An internal memo shows CBS News executives cautioning their staffers not to mention the transgender identity of the Nashville shooter who murdered three nine-year-old children and three adults on Monday at a private Christian school, according to a report from the New York Post.
The shooting occurred at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school whose motto is “Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.”
“The shooter’s gender identity has not been confirmed by CBS News,” the network’s executives told employees in a memo obtained by the Post. “As such, we should avoid any mention of it as it has no known relevance to the crime. Should that change, we can and will revisit.”
“Right now we advise saying: POLICE IDENTIFIED THE SUSPECT AS A 28-YEAR-OLD (shooter’s name), WHO THEY SHOT AND KILLED AT THE SCENE. And move on to focus on other important points of the investigation, community and solutions,” the memo continued.
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The memo reportedly came from an editorial call by CBS News newsgathering vice president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and standards and practices senior vice president Claudia Milne the day after the shooting.
“We are waiting to see the manifesto (written by the shooter) and any details about motive,” a CBS spokeswoman informed the Post. “As we say in our guidance, we will then review and revise our reporting.”
“This is absurd because the police identified (the shooter) as transgender,” a source within CBS told the Post. “If the cops didn’t address it, maybe you could avoid it, but withholding information is not journalism.”
A source who was on the call said, “You need to look at all the facts of the case. Everyone should be invested in understanding what happened. I don’t know how you do that without understanding the full scope of the situation. Are we communicating to our readers and viewers that they cannot handle the basic facts of the case? You can’t avoid who this person is, This is not an editorial decision. They made a judgment based on personal feelings.”
On Monday, “CBS Evening News” noted that police has said the shooter identified as transgender, but any mention of the shooter’s transgender identity was elided on the broadcast the next two days.
NBC News admitted the shooter was transgender, but took another tack, titling an article, “Fear pervades Tennessee’s trans community amid focus on Nashville shooter’s gender identity.”
The shooter’s manifesto has not yet been released by police.