Was it ethical for Gayle King to ask such a question so soon after Kobe Bryant’s death? Do you think Gayle King would have lost any journalistic credibility had she not asked Lisa Leslie about the sexual assault charge? As a journalist it is Gayle’s job to ask these type of tough and uncomfortable questions and I don’t believe she would have lost any credibility if she had not asked these particular questions, because it was going to come up in another interview sooner or later, we just didn’t expect it to be this soon after the mans death. The questions Gayle asked were fair questions because we cannot deny that the sexual assault allegations against Kobe are part of his legacy, nobody gets to dictate what people remember about his legacy, as uncomfortable as it might be to his fans. The questions were directed at Lisa not only from a friend’s point of view but also as a woman’s point of view.
I’m sure not many people remember but it was only when the alleged victims name was leaked to the media that her life became a living hell and only after that is when, she decided to drop the charges. This is a big reason as to why rape survivors keep quiet and don’t come forth, Now having said that, Gayle’s timing was the worst. In that moment, was it a fair question to ask? Gayle asked the questions at the wrong time. First of all, Lisa was a very close friend of his and still grieving so not only do I believe that it was disrespectful to ask her these question in this particular moment but it was also disrespectful because the man just died, and not because he is a celebrity, but because he was a human being that was killed in a tragic accident along with his daughter and others. Kobe and his daughter’s family do not need any stress added on top of trying to get through this very difficult time (including Lisa) dealing with their deaths. Did CBS throw Gail King under the bus to make the interview look more salacious than it actually was?
Every other Network out there is going to select the promos that are going to get the most attention. The promos that would draw people in, and most of the time it will be obscene things that get released to the public. CBS got a lot of attention when they had released the promo of Gayle’s interview with R. Kelly, where it shows him losing it and screaming on camera. I believe that Gayle was set up by the very Network she works for, because CBS had to have known that by releasing that promo part only (this specific part of the interview), was going to subject Gayle to a lot of backlash, and the Network failed by not protecting her. By releasing the short promo, CBS made it seem like the interview was based ,mostly around the rape case. It was not until Gayle was subjected to threats of violence by Snoop Dogg and others that CBS came to her defense.
It is safe to say that the malice backlash against Gayle King, which included death threats is wrong. Should she have expected this backlash? Gayle is a journalist, so she is held to a higher standard. But two wrongs don’t make a right, even though some people may have seen the questions as disrespectful that does not constitute the right to threaten someone life. This backlash didn’t just come from regular folks, but celebrities too. To threaten to kill someone because you didn’t like what they asked, is ridiculous and I don’t think Gayle deserves how horrible she’s been treated. And Snoop Dogg’s with his message laced with misogyny threatening her with violence, suggesting coming after her, and calling her (and I quote) “funky doghead bitch”.
That is disrespectful to Gayle as a Woman. He’s a hypocrite, because he himself is attacking and convicting Gayle, just like he asked what was Gayle going to gain out of asking these questions (what does it accomplish), what was Snoop Dogg going to get out of threatening Gayle, unless he was serious about the threat, but then what, was he going to go to her home and beat up a 65 year old woman? I don’t understand why his comments were necessary either. I don’t see this as a race issue like Snoop Dogg claims it to be, but more of an attack on women, also having verbally attacked Oprah. Also Snoop supports Bills Cosby, which says a lot about his view towards women who are sexually assaulted. This is the same kind of violence towards women that Gayle was talking about when trying to get Lisa’s perspective on it, from a woman’s point of view.
Reading the PowerPoints on Media and Politics, did Gayle King use journalistic integrity? With the combination of having common sense and with what history has though us, Gayle should have seen it (the criticism not threats) coming though. In hindsight I think Gayle should have expected it, but she probably honestly didn’t think that anything about the interview was wrong, until she saw that CBS highlighted the interview by isolating that specific part of the interview and airing it. I think if Gayle would have known what CBS’s intentions were, she would have thought twice about the question she asked and not push the envelope on the subject. Her interview was overshadowed down to only these specific questions she asked.
