While mass shootings have become far too frequent (there have been more than 130 this year in the United States), Monday’s shooting in Nashville continues to dominate the news cycle.

It’s not unusual for mass shootings to renew the fierce debate about guns in this country, with half the nation calling for stricter gun laws and the other half offering thoughts and prayers and comments about mental health. That debate magnified this week seemingly more so than usual, possibly because of the setting of the shooting (a Christian grade school) and the victims, which included three 9-year-old children.

Media coverage has been intense.

In the aftermath of Monday’s horrific news, my Poynter colleague Kelly McBride writes, “How news organizations can responsibly report on the Nashville mass shooting.”

Among her thoughts are to minimize the shooter’s identity, meaning avoid using it in a headline. Also, McBride wrote, “Steer clear of images that might glorify the shooter.” (More on this in a moment.)

Another point is to avoid using the “overblown term” of “manifesto.” McBride writes, “By definition, a manifesto is clear and logical. Most documents left behind by shooters are confusing, illogical attempts to justify their behavior.”

But this was the part of McBride’s piece that I found most interesting: “The police reported on the day of the attack that the shooter was transgender. That may turn out to be wrong or incomplete. And it’s unclear what that has to do with the shooting. Yet some news organizations are publishing photos and social media posts that spotlight the shooter and suggest a causal relationship between gender identity and this act of violence. There is no evidence to support that at this point. Both news and entertainment media have contributed to the inaccurate characterization of trans people as dangerous and unhinged. Be cautious of contributing to that trope. Until it’s known what pronouns are appropriate, just avoid them. This is doable, given the best practice of minimizing information about the shooter unless it’s clearly connected to the attack.”

Here are more thoughts and stories regarding the Nashville shooting:

• Another Poynter colleague, Al Tompkins, tweeted about the surveillance video that has been circulating showing the shooter stalking the halls of the school after shooting out the windows of a door. Tompkins wrote, “Journalism friends, of what possible value is there in showing the sensational video of the Nashville school shooter stalking the halls of the school? The video shows nothing we cannot describe — shows no facts that are in question. Just clickbait that murderers want.”
• Tompkins also said in an email: “I praise the Nashville Police Department for quickly releasing the police body cam and the school security camera videos from the school shooting where a person with two assault rifles murdered six people. The videos will be useful, even essential to police training, but I cannot justify using the entire videos in news coverage. I certainly do not endorse journalists posting those videos online ‘just because we can.’”
• On the topic of the police body cam footage, it is powerful and graphic. The New York Times’ Emily Cochrane with “Body camera footage shows officers racing through the school to find the shooter.”
• Nashville Mayor John Cooper had powerful anti-gun remarks during an interview with “CNN This Morning,” telling co-host Kaitlan Collins, “In Tennessee, we’ve been rolling back gun laws and making guns almost ubiquitous. It makes guns first of mind when people are thinking about doing terrible things. And we’ve got to make that clearly more difficult. We owe it to the parents.”
• New York Times contributing opinion writer Esau McCaulley with “How Can We Be a Country That Does This to Our Children?” McCaulley wrote, “The debate around gun control is not new, of course, and each tragedy brings a fresh wave of calls for common sense gun regulation. The adversaries of reform will rebuke us for turning a tragedy, the deaths of six innocent people, into an occasion to debate politics. We will be urged to offer prayers for the victims and their families while we await the appropriate time to discuss the more difficult issues. But too often it seems that rather than waiting for the right time, politicians are simply trying to wait out the news cycle.”
• Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman with “On guns, conservatives are winning. This nightmare is the result.”
• NBC News’ Rose Horowitch with “Rep. Andy Ogles, whose district includes Nashville, criticized over gun-filled Christmas photo.”
• From NBC News, “Reporter recounts surviving 2010 shooting while covering Nashville shooting on-air.”
• In case you missed it Monday, The Washington Post with “The Blast Effect. This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart.” The end of the story online is chilling. It counts how long you have been on that page and then compares that exact time to how long it took a shooter to kill X number of people in a mass shooting. (Example: “You have been on this page for 2 minutes and 0 seconds. It took approximately 2 minutes for the shooter to kill 10 people and injure 3 others at a Buffalo supermarket.”)
• Also from The Washington Post editorial board: “No one needs an AR-15 — or any gun tailor-made for mass shootings.” The board writes, “The AR-15 has become a cultural symbol. But what kind of culture tolerates death after death after 10 murders — or after 27, or 49, or 60? Respect for the Second Amendment doesn’t require standing by while 6-year-olds are torn to shreds. The nation needs to act on guns. The AR-15 and weapons like it are a good place to start.”

We call to the stand …

Some of Fox News’ biggest names are being asked to take the stand in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against the network over coverage of the 2020 presidential election. The case is expected to go to court in mid-April. In court filings, Dominion is asking for a who’s who of Fox News to testify, including Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott, network president Jay Wallace, and on-air hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Maria Bartiromo and Bret Baier. Dominion also wants testimony from former executive Bill Sammon and former politics editor Chris Stirewalt.

Several of those names include those whom Fox might also want to testify, including Scott, Wallace, Hannity, Carlson, Bartiromo and Baier.

In a statement, Fox News said, “Dominion’s needlessly expansive live witness list is yet another attempt to generate headlines and distract from the many shortcomings of its case. Ultimately, this case is about the First Amendment protections of the media’s absolute right to cover the news.”

King to CNN?

CBS News’ Gayle King, shown here in September 2022. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

The Wall Street Journal’s Isabella Simonetti reports that CNN is close to finalizing a deal that would have “CBS Mornings” anchor Gayle King hosting a weekly prime-time show. In addition, basketball analyst Charles Barkley could be involved in the show with King. Puck’s Dylan Byers reported in early February that CNN was in talks with King and Barkley.

CNN boss Chris Licht is looking to boost the network’s falling prime-time ratings.

As Simonetti wrote, “Mr. Licht has been struggling to find the right formula for prime time since he took over last May. The network was on track to average 535,000 primetime viewers for the first quarter as of March 24, down about 35% from a year ago and its lowest quarterly ratings average since 2015, according to Nielsen data. In March, CNN is set to post its lowest monthly rating in at least three decades among adults 25 to 54, a key demographic for advertisers.”

Would King, perhaps along with Barkley, give CNN the lift it is looking for? I would be skeptical. Not because of King and Barkley, both of whom are talented TV people, but because of the current cable news landscape. Conservative viewers flock to Fox News, and MSNBC seems to be the preferred destination for what’s left of the prime-time cable news followers. MSNBC’s prime-time viewership often doubles up CNN.

Then again, adding King is worth a shot. Licht needs to try something.

Simonetti wrote, “Inside CNN, some staffers said that they wished the network’s journalism got more attention than the ratings decline and that CNN’s struggles have taken a toll on morale. Still, some employees said they are optimistic about Mr. Licht’s leadership and noted that he has been more physically present in meetings and in the hallways since the beginning of the year, after tending to corporate matters earlier.”

Conviction of ‘Serial’ subject reinstated

Adnan Syed was 17 years old when he was arrested in 1999 for killing a former high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. In 2000, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. He always maintained his innocence and in 2014 the case became the subject of the popular podcast “Serial.” The podcast looked at the possibility that Syed was wrongly convicted.

Then, last September, after 22 years in prison, Syed was released when a judge vacated the verdict because of questions over how prosecutors had turned over evidence to the defense years ago.

But on Tuesday, another twist in the case. A Maryland appellate court, by a 2-1 vote, reinstated the murder conviction, saying Lee’s family had their rights violated because they weren’t informed and did not attend the hearing where his conviction was vacated.

Now what?

The court’s ruling on Tuesday said, “We remand for a new, legally compliant, and transparent hearing on the motion to vacate, where Mr. Lee is given notice of the hearing that is sufficient to allow him to attend in person, evidence supporting the motion to vacate is presented, and the court states its reasons in support of its decision.”

CNN’s Sara Smart has more.

Psaki’s strong ratings

Speaking of cable news ratings, Jen Psaki’s new Sunday MSNBC show followed up strong opening week ratings with solid week two numbers this past weekend. Her noon Eastern show won the time slot among cable news outlets. Psaki’s show had 1.061 million viewers, beating out Fox News (900,000) and CNN (574,000). In addition, Psaki’s second episode drew more viewers than every telecast on CNN last week.

An apology over slavery

The owner of The Guardian has apologized for the roles the newspaper’s founders had in transatlantic slavery. The Guardian’s Aamna Mohdin wrote, “It follows an independent academic research commissioned in 2020 to investigate whether there was any historical connection between chattel slavery and John Edward Taylor, the journalist and cotton merchant who founded the newspaper in 1821, and the other Manchester businessmen who funded its creation.”

Details of the research can be found in “The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement report.”

The Guardian ran a special series called “Cotton Capital” — which looked at “how slavery changed the Guardian, Britain and the world.” It includes this transparent story: “The enslaved people linked to The Guardian.” The piece identifies more than 300 people enslaved on plantations connected to The Guardian’s founders.

In addition to the apology, The Guardian also announced a decadelong program of restorative justice. The Scott Trust said it will donate more than $12 million with “millions dedicated specifically to descendant communities linked to The Guardian’s 19th-century founders.”

Media tidbits

• CNN’s Chris Isidore with “Elon Musk: Only paid subscribers will show up in your Twitter ‘For You’ feed.”
• Vanity Fair’s Charlotte Klein profiles journalist and podcaster Kara Swisher in “‘I’ll walk away from anything’: Kara Swisher calls the shots.”
• Axios’ Sara Fischer with “Gannett CEO forecasts more daily newspaper sales.”
• Donald Trump went on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show Monday night. The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake wrote about it in “Sean Hannity’s attempt to coach Trump backfires — again.”
• The Los Angeles Times’ James Rainey with “The California newspaper that has no reporters left.”
• Poynter’s Barbara Allen talks to Poynter’s Kelly McBride for “Newsrooms struggle over how to cover crime.”
• The Newhouse School at Syracuse University has named its winners of the 2023 Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting. The national award went to Politico’s Josh Gerstein, Alex Ward, Peter Canellos, Hailey Fuchs, Heidi Przybyla, Elena Schneider and Holly Otterbein for their coverage of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The local prize went to Phil Williams of WTVF-TV in Nashville for looking into how laws are made in the Tennessee General Assembly. Click on the link in this item for runners-up and more details on the winning entries.
• A day after well-respected NFL reporter Jim Trotter announced his contract had not been renewed by NFL Media, another NFL Media personality is out. New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand reports that Rachel Bonnetta agreed to have the final year of her contract bought out. As Marchand noted, Bonnetta was considered a rising star at NFL Network and was strongly considered to replace Kay Adams as host on “Good Morning Football.” That job eventually went to Jamie Erdahl.

Recommendation of the day

In this Nov. 10, 2018, file photo, an image of University of Utah student and track athlete Lauren McCluskey, who was fatally shot on campus, is projected on the video board before the start of an NCAA college football game between Oregon and Utah in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

After a four-year probe, ESPN’s T.J. Quinn and Nicole Noren with a superb and heart-wrenching story: “Listen. A story about what happens when the people and institutions that are supposed to protect, fail.”

The massive report chronicles the institutional failures that led to the murder of University of Utah student and track athlete Lauren McCluskey, who was murdered by a man she had been dating.

Aside from the lengthy story on ESPN.com, the murder is the subject of a documentary that debuted Tuesday night on ESPN+ and ESPN+ on Hulu. In addition, ABC’s “20/20” will cover the story, including interviews with the reporters, Friday night at 9 p.m. Eastern.

The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch calls it “ESPN at its investigative journalism best.” Scott D. Pierce of The Salt Lake Tribune called the documentary “chilling.”

Quinn told Deitsch, “Chasing down all the documents and video was time-consuming, to say the least, and sometimes had to be resolved through state open-records hearings. But ultimately we were able to get what the public was entitled to under the law. With people, however, it was a different story.”

Carve out some time to read the ESPN.com piece, and then seek out the documentary.

Hot type

• For The Atlantic, Billy Ball with “My 6-Year-Old Son Died. Then the Anti-vaxxers Found Out.”
• USA Today Network’s Megan Burrow and Nhung Nguyen with “‘The book from the enemy’: A lifetime after Vietnam, U.S. veteran delivers a diary to its home.”
• Cool and fun interactive piece from Quoctrung Bui and Jessia Ma for The New York Times: “Build your own college rankings.”

More resources for journalists

• Subscribe to Poynter’s Friday newsletter, Open Tabs with Poynter managing editor Ren LaForme, and get behind-the-scenes stories only available to subscribers.
• An Evening with Denis Phillips — May 12, at The Straz. Get tickets.
• Lead With Influence (July 2023) (Seminar) — Apply by June 2.
• Telling the Stories of Faith and the Faithful — New York, May 12 (Seminar) — Register by April 12.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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