The Associated Press Commits Media Malpractice To Sell a False Lynching Narrative

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Dear Associated Press: If racism is so horrible, why are you attempting to manufacture racial unrest?! One would think if you were truly upset over racial issues, an outlet would focus on solutions. Instead, you see the AP dumping lighter fluid on the issue and misleading its readers on the motive behind a horrific, but not race-related, crime by omitting the race of the suspected perpetrators.

If you have paid some attention to the desperate souls in Congress wanting to have a racial gripe, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and others have been braying a lot lately about the alleged swath of lynching taking place across the country. If you are scratching your head due to a lack of notice about this scourge, that should say everything about this “national crisis.”

If Black Americans were being lynched on the regular, who believes that our press would be sitting idly by and not reporting on it in frenzied fashion?! It would be the lead story hourly on the news networks, and every pundit with a boom mic would be podcasting furiously.

But there is a good reason why there is a dearth of impassioned headlines, and the Associated Press has displayed why. The news syndicate has worked to craft a story in such a forced manner that it exposes the lack of substance behind this narrative.

In a video report, Sarah Jones-Smith details the particulars behind the death of Tasia Fortune, a Black woman from Mississippi. Well, most of the details. She was found hanging in a tree in her local area, and in the video segment on her death, you will notice a particular focus throughout.

The death of Tasia Fortune, a Black Mississippi woman found hanging from a tree on Aug. 3, has stirred distressing memories of the grim history of lynchings across the U.S. South. pic.twitter.com/sCmPZt6C8K

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 21, 2026

This report is a case of abject media malpractice. There is no other way to massage the intent behind this grossly slanted reporting. You see the inclusion of a police department press conference in this report, and you hear all of the intonations of race being the factor in the death of Ms. Fortune.

“The grim history of lynchings”
“Distressing memories”
“The imagery of a rope and noose evokes the legacy of lynching”
“Brings deep pain and trauma”
“Eliciting historically-grounded skepticism”
“Caused many to think about the days of slavery and Jim Crow”
“More than 4,400 lynchings occurred in the U.S.”

We also get told that Democrats in Congress want the DOJ to investigate these deaths in response to the 2022 Emmitt Till Anti-Lynching Act. They call for this action, despite the fact that almost every case involves deaths that were ruled suicides.

That is the perpetual referencing of racial violence, and no fewer than four direct mentions of “lynching,” in under two minutes. There is something deeply significant about the death of Tasia Fortune that this Associated Press account of things could not find time to include, however.

That would be the racial construct of the individuals who are charged with the murder of the woman in Mississippi. You may have picked up on the detail that Tasia’s mother indicated she did not think the murder was racially motivated. This is for a valid reason.

The suspect is said to have ties to the victim. He also has a significant racial profile that manages to derail every single claim and lynching reference made in this report.

Since the AP reporter could not manage to find this publicly available detail, we shall provide it, so Ms. Smith-Jones can include it in any follow-up reports: both murder suspects are Black.

And thus, the lynching narrative preferred by this Associated Press reporter gets blasted into confetti by the facts. We really need to have it explained why this news provider, to so many outlets across the country, needed to push this racial violence storyline when it does not exist.

It is obvious that Smith-Jones intentionally hid the racial makeup of the man suspected of this murder. She also claimed a “rope and noose” were used, when the police said an electrical cable was fastened around her neck. This appears to be a report rooted in preconceived assumptions and not applied journalism. The suspect was a known entity, with his name included, so clearly shielding his race in order to lean on the lynching narrative was the methodology.

The Associated Press needs to answer for this dereliction. The irresponsible nature of this report also proves that the demand for racial violence and lynchings exceeds the supply. So the news syndicate needed to synthesize the details.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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