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Fox News 'Mistakenly' Uses Photo of Sen. Kamala Harris for a Male Murder Suspect

October 23, 2018
Written by DiversityInc Staff

Fox News Network had to issue an apology and a correction on Tuesday after using two photos of female Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) to depict a Black male murder suspect in Utah.

While reporting the details of a shooting at the University of Utah that left one female student dead, Fox News reported to its viewers the suspected shooter was a registered sex offender named Melvin Rowland — a Black male. Although, Fox News cleared up the “error” of using Harris’ photo, it seems a little suspicious considering that it wasn’t just a photo that was flashed in the heat of the moment of reporting the tragic story.

There was a video created for the segment, which meant production, editing and time had to be taken to create the finished project.

Jillian Mele, who initially, reported the story also offered the on-air apology stating:

“Now, in an earlier version of this story we showed you the wrong video. We showed you pictures of Senator Kamala Harris instead of Melvin Rowland’s mugshot. We apologize for that error.”

This isn’t the first time that the production staff at the inept network has done this.

When beloved R&B singer, Aretha Franklin, passed away in August of this year, Fox News posted a picture of living legend, Patti LaBelle. Of course, the network issued an apology.