SAE Fraternity Members Singing Racist Chant

The news story I am covering is about the fraternity, Sigma Alpha Eplison, at the University of Oklahoma. On a bus going to a celebration, there was a video leaked about members singing "there will never be a n***** at SAE, you can hang them from a tree but they will never sign with me...".  Since this has been leaked, both the President of the University and the President of the National Board of SAE has taken stances to expel these boys from the fraternity and possibly the school. The first news story that I watched that occurred last night during the 10 o'clock news on March 8th was from KOCO, a news station for the state of Oklahoma. The difference between this coverage and the others that I watched was that they used the words "alleged" and "if in involves OU students" which does not immediately place the blame on these students. It was covered at the beginning of the investigation, but later in the story they talk about speaking to students both in and out of the fraternity which signifies that they do in fact know that they are the perpetrators. The station probably does not want to believe that a University in their state has been a part of such heinous racial crimes. The other difference of this newscast is that it was shot on the campus of OU, so they were able to show us the police at the scene of the crime along with other on the spot coverage.

CNN and NBC had a similar recount of what had occurred, yet both of the newscasts were on March 9th between 10 and 11 in the morning. CNN and NBC both played the video with subtitles, gave the statements of both of the Presidents, and told that the University was participating in both rallies and prayer services to help students cope with what had happened. The two stations made it clear that everyone was in disgust about the actions of the fraternity, and actions will be taken towards justice. What made NBC stand out against CNN is that they provided a few interviews of students who study at the University of Oklahoma which lets the viewer know that they do not want to be associated with SAE. NBC also provided a follow up clip that the fraternity building has been vandalized by other students. This is definitely a story that needs attention too prove how important it is for this ignorance to stop. All newscasters had a disappointed tone in rehashing the events that took place, and it will be interesting to hear what will happen to those distasteful SAE boys.