It turns out that the hostile Baltimore protester Geraldo Rivera nearly came to blows with had some substantive, sincere thoughts about Fox’s coverage of the protests and riots. Which Rivera refused to listen to.
Media Matters notes:
The young man explained to Rivera, “I want you and Fox News to get out of Baltimore City, because you are not here reporting about the boarded up homes and the homeless people under MLK. You’re not reporting about the poverty levels up and down North Avenue. ... But you’re here for the black riots that happen. ... you’re not here for the death of Freddie Gray.”
Reverb Press has more:
“You want to report that we’re thugs and we’re breaking shit down. You got these two black dudes protecting you (talking about Geraldo’s bodyguards) from all these black folks. We’re the ones that need protection! Report for us! You’re working for Fox News. ...
Geraldo could barely keep his sleek, toothy grin intact as he walked away and the protester kept hammering him:
Why are you running away? Talk to me. Just talk to me. Listen, a black man can raise his voice and you don’t have to be intimidated.
None of that context got shown to the “we report, you decide” network’s viewers. Instead, when Rivera went on the air a little later, on the Hannity show, he called the protester a “vandal” and accused him of wanting “trouble.”
Yesterday, on Fox & Friends, Rivera dismissed the “obstructionist" man as “exactly that kind of youthful anarchy that led to the destruction and pain in that community.”
And then Fox complains about the community being hostile to the network.
Watch it below, from April 28, via Reverb Press and Benjamin Hancock.
And he’s the voice of sanity by comparison to what other Fox “reporters” have been doing on this. Leland Vittert, for one, has been channeling Jesse Waters, shoving himself in front of the mayor, Sharpton or Elijah Cummings and persistently demanding they answer a raft of “gotcha questions.” Hannity also had on extensively tonight a really vile reporter from the Philly Fox affiliate, sadly an African-American, who trolled protesters there in the identical way trolls on blogs behave. “Why are you saying ‘black lives matter’ Don’t all lives matter?” Etc.
No worries though, Geraldo is back out there this afternoon at a Justice/Peace protest march. He’s smiling from ear to ear as he hangs with celebs, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Simmons. Geez.
Can you imagine if fox had been around during the 60’s?
And ~ might I add ~ This is why Fox News deserves a hostile reaction from all logical people who should know better than to look the other way when these “journalists” open their mouths.
