TV News Prepares for Derek Chauvin Trial in Post-Trump Era

Brian Steinberg
·4 min read
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TV news is latching on to an old standby to help it gain attention in a new — and often less flashy — news cycle.

Coverage of the court trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with causing the death of George Floyd, will surface Monday across many mainstream TV outlets. Some of it will be gavel-to-gavel, the sort of thing that echoes the news media’s fascination with the O.J. Simpson murder trial of 1995.

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Many TV-news outlets have seen key ratings tumble as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic and in the wake of the end of President Donald Trump’s term in office. The looming trial could serve as new means of winning audiences. “There’s always pressure in television news to find stories that bring in ratings, but especially now because viewer numbers have dropped so much without Trump in the White House,” says Mark Feldstein, chair of broadcast journalism at the University of Maryland. “The Chauvin trial has everything — murder and racism, drama and spectacle –so it’s an obvious ratings-grabber, especially since TV cameras are recording and broadcasting it live.”

The trial is likely to spark heated debate and revive intense feelings around many of the issues at its center. Floyd’s death opened a new national dialogue about how people from different background, races, and cultures are treated in the United States and spurred a number of intense protests around the country. “The Chauvin trial is about more than just a single defendant; it’s about the larger issue of racist police brutality captured vividly and unmistakably on video,” says Feldstein. ” It’s a story television can’t resist. By shining a light on a sensational case that also highlights deep, systemic problems in our society, television is also performing a public service.”

Much of the coverage will appear on the news outlets’ digital venues, a potential bid to add to the tabulation of monthly users that each service’s owners crave. CBS News, for example, will offer reporting on programs such as “CBS Evening News” and “CBS This Morning.” But the network will make available a feed from its Minneapolis station, WCCO, via CBSN, its free streaming news offering.

ABC News plans to cover every minute of the legal proceeding on its ABC News Live broadband outlet. and is using the trial as a moment to expand Linsey Davis’ “ABC News Live Prime” to 90 minutes instead of an hour. Meanwhile. Diane Macedo and Terry Moran will split anchoring duties for live-streamed trial coverage during the day. Viewers may recall Moran’s early-career stint on CourtTV during the trials of both Simpson and Lyle and Erik Menendez.

There will be live coverage on some linear networks too. CNN is expected to take key portions of the trial live, according to a spokesperson for the WarnerMedia network, but CNN Digital will offer a live feed of the process. Fox News Channel will dispatch afternoon anchor Martha MacCallum to Minneapolis, and plans to offer her 3 p.m. hour Monday live from the scene. NBC News will rely on reporting from Gabe Gutierrez and Shaq Brewster that will appear across many of its programs, as well as on MSNBC and NBC News Now. CBS News is sending Jamie Yuccas to cover the event.

WarnerMedia’s HLN will evoke an earlier era by returning to all-day coverage of the trial. The network, once known for following the ins and outs of captivating legal spectacle, will show Chavuin trial coverage each day between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., anchored by Mike Galanos.

MSNBC will start its coverage Sunday with a special edition of Ali Velshi’s morning program live from Minneapolis. Reverend Al Sharpton’s “PoliticsNation” will also broadcast live from Minneapolis that day, and will feature an interview with Ben Crump, the attorney for George Floyd’s family. At 6 p.m. Sunday, anchor Ari Melber will lead a special hour ahead of the next day’s coverage.

The news networks will launch coverage with their ratings down from a year ago at this time, In early 2020, audiences found themselves stuck at home due to the pandemic, and viewership soared for both cable news and evening offerings from the broadcast networks. But those audience levels have come back down to earth as the nation starts to emerge from the contagion and with a new U.S. president who keeps most of his reactions to daily events limited to himself and his staff.

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