CBS ’60 Minutes’ Under Fire Over Deion Sanders Profile
Jackson State women’s basketball coach Tomekia Reed has blasted CBS‘ 60 Minutes for the way it portrayed Jackson, Mississippi, in Sunday’s (September 17) feature on former NFL player turned coach Deion Sanders.
The segment on the show saw Coach Prime, as Sanders is known, interviewed by 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim, focusing on the legendary NFL cornerback’s move from head coach of Jackson State to the University of Colorado Boulder.
In the report, Wertheim highlighted the differences between Jackson and Boulder, including things such as housing and environment.
“The distance between Jackson and Boulder is a thousand miles, and immeasurably further culturally,” Wertheim said. “Sanders went from a city that is 83 percent black to one that is one percent black. From a place with a water crisis to a kind of hipster college town where there’s a shop devoted to kites.”
During Wertheim’s voice-over, the video showed a shot of a dilapidated house.
CBS/YouTube
“@60Minutes y’all made Jackson, MS look horrible,” Reed tweeted Sunday (September 17) night. “You should be ashamed of yourselves for showing the worst house you can find in America and make it like that describes us. I’m not even sure if that abandoned house you showed is even in Jackson. #ThisisHome.”
When a commenter asked her what the show was about, Reed replied, “It was comparing Jackson, MS to Boulder, CO. They showed very nice locations in Boulder and showed the worst they could find in Jackson, MS. We have so much more to show that wouldn’t have hurt @60Minutes to take time to spotlight.”
@60Minutes y’all made Jackson, MS look horrible. You should be ashamed of yourselves for showing the worst house you can find in America and make it like that describes us. I’m not even sure if that abandoned house you showed is even in Jackson. #ThisisHome
— Coach Tomekia Reed (@CoachTReed) September 18, 2023
While 60 Minutes and Wertheim have not directly responded to Reed’s comments, a source “with knowledge of CBS” told the New York Post that the image of the house was shot near the Jackson State football facility and included in last year’s feature on Sanders.
Andrew Wevers/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Reed, who has coached the Jackson State women’s basketball since 2018 and led them to four regular season wins and two conference tournament placements, found support from other viewers.
“That’s crazy, we over here saying the same thing,” wrote one Twitter/X user, while another said, “Coach Reed.. This message gives me chills and makes me weep for our city at the same time.. Just a horrible depiction of our beloved city of Jackson!”
However, some others disagreed, with one person writing, “I mean… it is horrible. It was easily one of the worst cities I’ve ever visited in my life. This was before the pandemic, summer 2018.”
Another said, “I mean the city is horrible.”
60 Minutes, Sundays, 7:30/6:30 c, CBS
