Don Lemon is the latest CNN anchor to say ‘n*****’ during a live broadcast that went unbleeped, though he said the racial slur while discussing the ethics behind the decision of many journalists to refrain from saying the entire curse on air after deeming it too offensive.
Mr Lemon was specifically talking about when the curse was used in the context of a story, or when journalists are reading a quotation that uses the word.
During that discussion, Mr Lemon- who is African American- said that by refusing to say the word when used in the context of a story, journalists were effectively lessening its impact.
I think it takes the value out of what that word ready means, especially when we are reporting it,’ he said.
‘And I don’t care what color the reporter is, I think someone should say, “That person calls someone n****,” instead of saying the N-word, because I think it sanitizes it,’ he said, using the full word during the quotation.
Mr Lemon went on to clarify his distaste for the word, saying: ‘I hate it in music. I hate in those kinds of things. I hate one when it’s misogynistic ‘s and rap and all that. But what I’m saying is in the reporting of a story, you should say the word not to sanitize it.’
The discussion was particularly poignant because another CNN reporter did just that the following day, leading to a backlash from viewers.
Susan Candiotti was reporting on the Good Friday shooting spree in Tulsa, in which a white man named Jake England randomly gunned down five black victims on the second anniversary of his father’s death – he had been shot dead by an African American.
On Thursday, a day before the shootings, England took to his Facebook page to vent his anger about the man who shot him dead.
