One of the most maddening things about the mainstream media is their deliberate word choices in describing people or things that have happened or allegedly happened, with the goal of crafting a specific narrative, and usually one that lines up with leftist talking points on any given issue.
We saw it, for instance, in many of the stories about illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member and accused domestic abuser Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the press often sympathetically referred to as a "Maryland father" in either the headlines, promos, or the opening paragraphs of their stories on his deportation to El Salvador and the Trump administration's battle to get him out of the country.
There are also the insulting characterizations of left-wing riots, referring to them as "mostly peaceful" when they have been anything but. This is something we saw, for instance, back in 2020 when then-MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi infamously referred to the arson and chaos going on around him during the George Floyd riots as "not, generally speaking, unruly, but fires have been started, and this crowd is relishing that."
Sometimes the media's deliberate terminology takes a more troubling and accusatory turn, which we saw recently in a CBS News report that referenced the incident between ICE agents and anti-ICE agitator Renee Good in Minneapolis, where Good hitting an agent with her Honda SUV led to shots being fired and her being killed.
In the video report in question, the reporter referred to what happened as "the murder of Renee Good." Watch:
CBS's Nicole Sganga insists on fomenting civil unrest, referring to the shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent as a "murder" pic.twitter.com/HNFH1RSPul
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 13, 2026
In a later corrected version, however, the wording had been changed to "the killing of Renee Good":
UPDATE: Audio has now been rerecorded, substituting "the killing of Renee Good" in lieu of the prior and more incendiary "murder." Looks like @bariweiss did some much-needed Editor-in-Chiefing.
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 13, 2026
(Great catch, @WelbornBeege) https://t.co/CzfXfZ6H3N pic.twitter.com/F7hBLSibpe
Obviously, that's an important distinction to make.
The only people calling what the ICE agent did "murder" are rabidly partisan Democrats who are trying to stoke the flames. While the corporate media undoubtedly are standing with Democrats on this, tossing the word "murder" into a story of this nature, especially when there is zero evidence of it, and when, in fact, a convincing case can be made otherwise based on multiple video clips, is pretty egregious and pretty much confirms what we've said about the media and their tendency to pick sides all along.
SEE ALSO: JD Vance Nails Critical Midterm Election Year Point on Blue State Versus Red State ICE Operations
The word should not have been in the original report. The fact that it was changed, though, is just more evidence of the Bari Weiss effect at CBS News, which is a welcome change from the usual doubling and tripling down we get from the press in instances like this.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.
Help us continue to report the truth about the president's border policies and mass deportations. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member