CBS and Reuters have been slammed by social media users for odd headlines about the Mall of America attack.
Witnesses told police officers that Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 25, approached two mothers and their two children on April 12 and grabbed one of the kids, a 5-year-old boy, before hurling him over the edge of a third-story balcony.
The boy fell approximately 39 feet before smashing into the floor, suffering multiple fractured bones in his arms and legs in addition to massive head trauma.
Aranda was arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder. Police said he told them he went to the mall looking for someone to kill.
Help For Landen – Mall Of America Attack Victim https://t.co/oHz8LS7dGV
— Cory Schmidt (@MidwestSports5) April 16, 2019
An April 19 article about the boy’s recovery from CBS had the following headline: “Child who plunged from Mall of America balcony showing ‘real signs of recovery.'”
Twitter users noted that the headline was strange considering the boy was thrown off the balcony.
“He was thrown. The media are the enemy of the people,” one user wrote.
“The white child was thrown off the balcony by a black man, FYI. Stop making it sound like he fell by accident, or jumped,” added another.
Child who plunged from Mall of America balcony showing “real signs of recovery” https://t.co/7VnhWaBC1S pic.twitter.com/3TVOuwWFaW
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 20, 2019
The only thing that has “plunged” is the quality of what you try to pass as journalism. ????
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) April 20, 2019
“You cant play up the narrative when it suits you and deflect when it doesn’t and call yourselves journalists. He did not plunge, he did not fall, he did not slip… he was thrown, deliberately, intentionally, and with malice. If you have any journalistic integrity left, find it,” added another.
“The only thing that has ‘plunged’ is the quality of what you try to pass as journalism,” added another.
The headline and backlash came about a week after Reuters posted a headline that also left out the most important part of the story.
“Man arrested after boy falls from balcony at Minnesota’s Mall of America,” the headline read, accompanied by two mugshots of Aranda.
Man arrested after boy falls from balcony at Minnesota’s Mall of America https://t.co/azOBaVWjOW pic.twitter.com/QgwwTc1mFB
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 13, 2019
“A 5-year-old boy suffered life-threatening injuries on Friday after being thrown or pushed…”. Literally your first sentence. ????????♀
— Bianca (@binxibooo) April 14, 2019
The post on Twitter also earned a “ratio,” or many more comments than “likes” or “retweets.”
“Disgraceful reporting that gives the impression the ‘news organization’ is covering for the attacker. Any first-year journalism student could do better than this,” wrote one user.
“So, judging from the headline alone, this man is being charged with being in the vicinity of a child that fell from a balcony. Huh,” added another.
“This tweet reads as though the two events you described are completely unrelated. Still wondering why mainstream media has a credibility problem?” added another.
