4 minNews
Media Coverage of Mississippi Hanging Highlights Victim's Race, Omits Suspect's
The arrest of a Black suspect in the hanging death of Tasia Fortune has upended a hate-crime narrative, but major outlets initially emphasized the victim's race while omitting the suspect's. The coverage choices have drawn scrutiny as the case moves toward trial.
Major news organizations covering the arrest of a suspect in the hanging death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black mother of four found outside an abandoned home in Jackson, Mississippi, last month, initially highlighted the victim's race while omitting that of the man charged with her murder. Jarques Ratliff, 51, who is also Black, was charged Friday and pleaded not guilty Monday.
CNN's breaking news report began by describing Fortune as a Black woman found hanging from a tree, but did not identify Ratliff's race until readers reached his mugshot below the sixth paragraph. In a follow-up story on his not guilty plea, CNN again described Fortune as Black while placing Ratliff's mugshot nearly 20 paragraphs deep. NBC News similarly wrote that a man had been arrested in the killing of a Black woman, omitting Ratliff's race, and neither its breaking news report nor its plea coverage included his mugshot. ABC News' initial report did not even name Ratliff, saying only that a man had been arrested in the death of a 29-year-old Black woman. The network acknowledged his name and race in a follow-up published Monday.
The Associated Press also scrubbed Ratliff's race from its first report, writing that Mississippi police had arrested a man in the death of a Black woman found hanging from a tree. The AP later acknowledged his race in its Monday story. USA Today initially refrained from identifying Ratliff's race, beginning its report by saying a man was arrested Friday, Sept. 11, in connection with the hanging death of a Mississippi Black woman. The paper later acknowledged his race on Monday. A USA Today spokesperson said the outlet stands by its initial report, noting it relied on information disclosed by authorities at the time and that its policy is to publish mugshots only when a suspect is particularly notable or poses a risk to the community. Ratliff was already apprehended, so neither condition applied, the spokesperson said. Representatives for CNN, ABC, NBC and The Associated Press did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case had drawn national attention after Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts described Fortune's death as one of several «modern-day lynchings,» citing a string of incidents involving Black people found in similar circumstances. Those claims lacked evidence at the time, and the arrest of a Black suspect has further complicated that narrative. The state medical examiner ruled Fortune's death a homicide.
The media coverage choices have become part of the story, with critics arguing that outlets framed the case around a racial hate-crime narrative that the arrest did not support. The emphasis on Fortune's race while omitting Ratliff's, and the delayed publication of his mugshot, meant many readers would not have known the suspect was Black unless they scrolled deep into the articles or saw his photo elsewhere. The episode has renewed debate over how newsrooms handle race in crime reporting, particularly when initial assumptions about a case collide with later developments.
Ratliff entered a not guilty plea Monday and remains charged with murder. The case is expected to proceed through the Mississippi courts, where further details about the circumstances of Fortune's death and the evidence against Ratliff may emerge. For now, the coverage itself has become a subject of scrutiny, illustrating how quickly a national narrative can shift when a suspect's identity contradicts early expectations.
