Staff Reports
The fast-moving video from outside an off‑campus Ole Miss apartment grabbed millions of eyeballs and turned into a national news story almost overnight. Two white women are seen on a doorbell camera making monkey‑like noises and gestures while three Black students recorded. One woman, identified in reports as Alaina Kunes, issued a public apology and later withdrew from the university. The University of Mississippi opened an investigation and called the actions “offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable.”
What happened at Ole Miss — and why it blew up
The short Ring camera clip went viral on TikTok and other platforms, racking up views in the low‑to‑mid tens of millions. The students who posted the video said one woman apologized in person while the other kept up the off‑camera behavior; one of the students told reporters, “She continued to make the gestures after the girl was apologizing. It was like a slap in the face.” That kind of behavior is ugly and deserves scrutiny. Given Ole Miss’s long civil‑rights history, stories like this tend to get extra attention from national outlets.
Media bias or sensible focus? The debate Megyn Kelly hosted
On The Megyn Kelly Show, Sean Davis of The Federalist and other guests argued the national press saturated the airwaves with this Ole Miss incident while leaving many other crimes and stories with little national notice. That criticism is not new — conservatives often say the national media chases certain narratives and ignores others. Call it selective outrage, call it editorial taste, call it what you like. The point Davis and others raise is simple: editorial choices shape public perception, and those choices are not always even‑handed.
Don’t mistake critique for dismissal of harm
Let’s be clear: pointing out media bias is not the same as minimizing racist behavior. The apology from Alaina Kunes — “I recognize my actions were insensitive, inappropriate and deeply harmful. I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color. I have apologized to the women and I pray they will forgive me” — matters. The students who felt harmed deserve to be heard. But it’s fair to ask why a single viral clip becomes a national obsession while other serious stories don’t. That question is worth asking without being accused of defending the behavior.
Why the bigger picture matters
This episode is a window into how stories go viral and then become shorthand for broader social debates. Ole Miss’s past makes the campus an easy place for national outlets to lampoon as emblematic of Southern racism, even when the facts are narrow. Conservatives are right to push back when coverage looks selective or performative. Journalists should report facts, not feed theater. If the media wants credibility, it must show consistent standards — not just the hottest clip or the one that fits a ready‑made storyline.
At the end of the day, students hurt by racial slurs deserve justice and accountability. But the public also deserves honest, balanced coverage that treats similar harms the same way. If the national press won’t police its own taste for spectacle, readers and viewers should. The rest of us will keep asking the hard questions — and yes, we’ll still watch the video to see exactly what happened.
