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Reading this article,, sorry to say it's very disturbing, I met a line,

Shortly after, CNN aired an audio report from correspondent Josh Campbell, who was a few blocks away, and said he had been approached by police and after identifying himself as a CNN reporter was allowed to stay on the scene.

“Josh, it’s impossible not to note the difference,” Camerota said. “You are a white guy, Omar Jimenez identifies as black and Latino. ... It’s just impossible not to note the difference here.”

So, is Camerota, saying he/she has no idea what is happening(racially (or simply what's going on?)) or she/he has a obscure/clearer idea what is going on(in terms of racsim)?.　Or is he/she saying that she is sure that MPD is treating CNN staff differently by the color of their skin?

Thank you for your precious time.

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  • Did you mean to say CNN staff rather than CNN staves? Otherwise, I can't figure out what you mean by that term. While staves is the plural of the count noun staff (which, for instance, generally refers to sticks of wood), the mass noun staff (which refers to employees) does not have a plural form.
    – Jason Bassford
    May 30, 2020 at 15:21
  • I think the most common use of "staves" in modern English is in musical notation. One line of musical notes in AmE is a "staff," multiple lines are "staves." In BrE, there's even the back-formation "stave" as the singular form of the plural musical "staves."
    – Canadian Yankee
    May 30, 2020 at 17:38
  • @JasonBassford Thanks for the additional info. Yes, sorry, I mean, staffs, according to Merium U for the plural form of staff, which is, "plural staffs : the personnel responsible for the functioning of an institution or the establishment or the carrying out of an assigned task under an overall director or head". So is it O.K for me to use staffs or just better use staff which is the common practice according to you? Living dictionaries?
    – user17814
    May 30, 2020 at 19:30
  • @CanadianYankee Thanks. I am getting perplexed since the Merriam U defines as "g plural staff : a member of a staff". Looks like when considering the personnel of an institute or like that sort, in AmE staff sounds right. In BrE, it looks like staves is OK according to the dictionary aside from the reality :).
    – user17814
    May 30, 2020 at 19:36
  • @Kentaro Just use staff. It applies to an indeterminate number of people. It's like water. If you drank two glasses of water, you still (normally) only say I drank (some) water. (With a singular construction.) Outside of a specific and informal use case, you don't say I drank waters. If you want to make the plural of staff explicit, you can say CNN staff members.
    – Jason Bassford
    May 30, 2020 at 19:59

1 Answer 1

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CNN reporter (correspondent) Omar Jimenez (= black and latino) and his crew → approached by state troopers in riot gear → Jimenez identified himself as a reporter with CNN → arrested.

CNN correspondent Josh Campbell (= white) → approached by police → Campbell identified himself as a CNN reporter → was allowed to stay on the scene.

So, when Camerota said

“Josh, it’s impossible not to note the difference, ... You are a white guy, Omar Jimenez identifies as black and Latino. ... It’s just impossible not to note the difference here.”

she meant to point out the differential treatment of the CNN reporters (by the police) based on their race. The police treated the two reporters differently; their treatment of Jimenez was unfair and reckless.

Camerota is trying to point out that the difference in the treatment of the reporters by the police is so obvious that it is impossible to miss it; the racism here is quite noticeable. The police acted and behaved differently towards the reporters who were of different colour but otherwise identical (had the same profession, worked for the same organization, covered the same story).

So, to answer your question

Or is she saying that she is sure that MPD is treating CNN staves differently by the color of their skin?

Yes, that is what she is trying to say.

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  • Thanks for the clarification!.
    – user17814
    May 30, 2020 at 4:59

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