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Abstract
When Andrew Breitbart released a video of Shirley Sherrod seemingly confessing to racism, journalists quickly turned the story into one of transformation in which a purportedly racist African American is redeemed by her embrace of a color-blind society. Guided by the concept of color-blind racism, this analysis of television news and commentary shows that U.S. television network news and commentary constructed a narrative arc involving accusation, rebuttal and redemption. And the moral of the story was that rational actors might overcome racial problems by focusing on personal prejudice rather than institutional racism. Some journalists and commentators advanced alternative themes but they failed to gain much traction. The study is based on a textual analysis of 36 shows broadcast on CNN, FOX News, FOX Business, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS on July 19 and 20, 2010 during the height of the controversy.
