Jason Riley Blames ‘Blanket Media Coverage’ For Perception That Black Men Die At The Hands Of Police ‘Every Day’ 

Wallstreet Journal columnist Jason Riley appeared on Fox News to discuss the ongoing protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. He placed the blame on ‘blanket media coverage” for focusing on the deaths of unarmed black men by police officers, making it seem like it happens to black people every day.

“A lot of the people out there protesting are doing so because they are convinced that this happens all the time to black people. Every day,” Riley said. “That we walk around in fear of law enforcement treating us like this, and I don’t think that what I saw is representative of police behavior or what black people go through on a daily basis.”

“One of my concerns is we have more examples of this in terms of media covering this. Particularly blanket media coverages when they happen because of social media and so forth,” Riley continued. “But this does not mean that this is happening more often, and those things are not distinguished in much of the coverage, and I find that very disturbing.”

Riley says that police use of force has gone down steadily since the 1970s, but because of the way the media covers instances of police brutality constantly when they happen, it gives the opposite appearance.

“My concern is that there’s going to be pullback on the police in some of these communities in the aftermath of events like this, and these communities will not have the policing that they need and they deserve going forward,” Riley said. “And then you’ll see more black lives lost as a result.”