Soledad O'Brien Sounds Off on
Ferguson Coverage:
‘Pissing Me Off’ That Questions
Are ‘Awful and Stupid’
“The killing of Michael Brown was not a story of black on black crime,” O'Brien tells TheWrap
Soledad O'Brien is loving life producing content for her own production company while also creating documentaries for networks such as her former full-time employer CNN. One of those docs–”Black & Blue”– which chronicles racial tension between police and minorities, airs Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET on CNN.
But she might be the exact journalist needed on TV this week as anchors ask questions to guests that have caused her to “yell at the TV.”
“What's kind of pissing me off is that some of the questions are just awful, and they're stupid, and some of the comments are indicative of people not really understanding a topic that I've said for a long time people don't really want to talk about–race,” O'Brien told TheWrap in a far-ranging interview Wednesday.
O'Brien pointed out one TV news guest not being asked the right questions–or being challenged for shifting the focus away from what's really happening.
“When Rudy Giuliani can be interviewed, whether you're talking about by liberal media or conservative media, and talks about black on black crime, he's changed the topic.”
“The killing of Michael Brown was not a story of black on black crime, but I keep seeing people interview him, where I yell at the TV and say, “Why are you asking him that question!”
O'Brien says the real questions the media should be asking pertain to how the police interact with black people. ”Less then when I watch Fox is the coverage one way, and when I watch MSNBC is the coverage a different way, and when I watch CNN is the coverage a third way–I mean of course it is, that's kind of the way they've evolved.”
The more frustrating thing for the former “Starting Point” anchor is the lack of intelligent conversation that operates “around facts and the actual question at hand.”
“In America we move the elephant in the room. And I think this is an opportunity to have a conversation about race.”
Watch the trailer for her Wednesday night documentary “Black & Blue” below.
