Mainstream news outlets are ignoring the death of a five-year-old white boy after he was executed in his front yard by a black man.
Cannon Hinnant was riding his bike with his two sisters on Sunday when he was shot in the head at point-blank range by his neighbor, Darius Sessoms.
The 25-year-old man executed the youngster in front of his seven and eight-year-old sisters before fleeing the scene. He was arrested within 24-hours of the murder and taken into custody by Wilson Police.
However, news outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, CNN, Yahoo News, NBC News, and ABC News have all decided not to report on the atrocious murder.
The media blackout sparked the hashtag #SayHisName which was trending on Twitter from Wednesday into Thursday morning.
So, why the media silence?
Of course, a white man executing a black five-year-old would be equally horrific and deserving of worldwide condemnation. No doubt mainstream outlets would be reporting on such a shocking incident for weeks.
But the question is, why haven’t they decided to give Cannon Hinnant a fraction of the time they devoted to stirring up racial tensions in response to George Floyd’s death? The answer is simple: it undermines their narrative.
What we have here is a vivid demonstration of how the media filters news and events in order to present the world a certain way. They do this to elicit certain responses, to shape how their viewers see the world around them, to influence public opinion, and ultimately, to attract political gain.
Evidently, the wall-to-wall coverage of George Floyd’s death was not so much about injustice inflicted on the innocent, as it was an opportunity to exploit and stoke racial tensions in the lead up to the election.
They would have us think the constant coverage was primarily driven by a righteous and noble desire to see “Justice for George,” but their silence on the horrific murder of an innocent child suggests that’s not really their concern after all.
Well did Francis Schaeffer warn: “When the perspective and the worldview of the elite coincides with some of the influential news carriers–it does not have to be all–then either consciously or unconsciously, the media becomes an instrument for manipulation.”