Couch: Mainstream Media Aiding In LeBron Coverup
OK, so maybe I was wrong. On Thursday, I wrote that LeBron James lacked the savvy to be a social justice warrior and had screwed up with his “YOU’RE NEXT” tweet that endangered a police officer. The officer, who is white, had shot to death a 16-year-old black girl, who was wielding a knife at another girl.
I was right about that.
I said that James is basically a puppet for Nike and the NBA, who are using him for a social justice campaign to serve as a smokescreen for the human rights atrocities they profit off of in China. You can’t do social justice with a corporate partner. “Social justice or shoe salesman,’’ I wrote. “It’s one or the other, not both.’’
I was right about that, too.
Where I was wrong was in what came next. I assumed that Nike and the NBA would be meeting frantically to figure out how to get James out of the mess he had created by going rogue from their carefully crafted plan. I was ready for some big announcement.
And what happened with Nike and the NBA? Nothing. No statement. No explanation of a passionate, well-meaning mistake.
Crickets.
They are just going to wait this thing out. And as a journalist, I’d like to think the pressure would be on them. As James tweeted: #ACCOUNTABILITY.
James presumably wanted the officer to be convicted of murder, the way police officer Derek Chauvin was for killing George Floyd. That’s probably what James meant by “YOU’RE NEXT,’’ written next to a picture of the officer who shot 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant of Columbus, Ohio.
Probably. But who knows for sure? James never bothered to explain. And it surely put a target on the officer.
But it doesn’t seem that James, or anyone, truly believes in accountability. Just accountability for others. Not for James. Not for Nike. Not for the NBA.
But no one is holding Nike or the NBA or James accountable. By “nobody,’’ I’m talking about one group:
The media.
Look, I’m not exactly a media basher. I went to journalism school and have worked at newspapers across the country, mostly the Chicago Sun-Times. I believe in what the media can and should be doing.
They are supposed to be here as a watchdog. Hold a mirror to society. Fourth branch of government.
What happened to that? No one is even offering any commentary on James’ tweet, which he took down and then explained. Sort of.
The New York Times? Washington Post? Chicago Tribune? What about ESPN.com? Maybe I’m missing it, but I’ve been going through the sites looking for comments on James, someone to hold him accountable. And nothing, no statement.
Crickets.
That is the media’s job, to hold Nike, the NBA and James accountable. If they don’t do it, no one will. So that’s why Nike and the NBA can just sit quietly and wait for the moment to pass.
The media are running stories about James taking down his tweet, and allowing him to dictate the narrative with his tweeted explanation of why he took it down. Here’s what he said.
“I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate - This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY.’’
And this:
“ANGER does any of us any good and that includes myself! Gathering all the facts and educating does though! My anger still is here for what happened that lil girl. My sympathy for her family and may justice prevail.’’
And the reporters are all OK with that? I don’t even know what some of it means. It’s like the words aren’t in the right order or something. Or they’re missing something.
I guess being critical of LeBron just doesn’t fit the narrative of what reporters believe in. They must think he’s perfect or something.
And if reporters are going to let it just drop, then surely Nike and the NBA and James will too.
I’m not a LeBron hater at all. I actually think he’s trying to use his fame and popularity to be useful and a good human being. He is just not prepared to do it on his own, and for the most part, he has let Nike do it as some sort of marketing campaign.
At this point, the best sales pitch is apparently to just shut up, nothing.
Crickets.