How the Media Manufactures Doubt Around Black Leadership

When facts involve Black leaders, the narrative suddenly shifts from truth to suspicion.

Over the last year, Cleveland’s Black leadership has faced a steady stream of headlines that read more like character assassinations than news. Councilman Kevin Conwell was nearly killed when shots were fired at him on East 108th Street—yet some outlets questioned whether it even happened. Councilman Richard Starr, who rose from the projects to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Baldwin Wallace University, has been painted as a hyper-masculine, unstable man. And Councilman Joe Jones—after what he described as a bad joke—has been dragged through a months-long spectacle that turned into another televised trial of Black behavior.

These stories aren’t just coincidences; they form a pattern. They reflect exactly what the Onyx Impact Report on Black Online Disinformation (2024) warned about: an ecosystem that distorts and amplifies narratives about Black figures to erode public trust and sow division inside the very communities they serve.

The Doubt Machine

When a Black official is accused, the media rushes forward. When a Black official is vindicated, the silence is deafening.

Look at Kevin Conwell: instead of sympathy for a man who thought he might die, cameras focused on whether the shooting “really happened.” No one questioned the trauma of hearing bullets near your head or the humanity of a man who broke down afterward. The moment was human—but editors stripped that humanity away.

Look at Richard Starr: Cleveland Scene’s coverage used his frustration on the council floor as proof of volatility, quoting another council member’s offhand comment—“I stand up when I use the bathroom”—as if it were Starr’s own words. It wasn’t. He grew up in Cleveland’s poorest neighborhoods, worked through CMSD, CMHA, and the Boys & Girls Clubs, earned two degrees, and came home to serve. Yet the narrative chosen for him was not perseverance, but temper.

Look at Joe Jones: a single line spoken in poor judgment (of which credible witnesses say what was reported is not what was said)—became the story of his career. Context, contrition, even due process disappeared behind the headline. Now a special prosecutor is investigating, and the same outlets that once praised his community work report every rumor as if it were a conviction.

Narrative Warfare and the Onyx Findings

What Is Narrative Warfare?

Narrative warfare is the strategic manipulation of stories, symbols, and information to shape how people see reality—especially who they trust and who they doubt. It doesn’t rely on facts or lies alone; it uses framing, repetition, and emotional triggers to make some voices seem credible and others suspect. In politics and media, narrative warfare turns reporting into persuasion—guiding public perception so that even true events are questioned when they involve certain people or communities. Its goal isn’t always to convince you of a lie; sometimes it’s simply to make you unsure of the truth.

The Onyx Impact Report defines this pattern precisely. Among the most dangerous trends in Black-targeted media discourse are:
- Stoking Division – portraying internal community conflicts as evidence that Black leadership is chaotic or corrupt.
- Revisionist Storytelling – erasing decades of service and reducing leaders to caricatures.
- Civic Disengagement – convincing the public that “they’re all the same,” so people stay home on Election Day.

That’s not journalism. That’s narrative warfare.

And while Onyx focused largely on social-media networks, Cleveland’s local ecosystem mirrors the same dynamic—traditional outlets functioning as amplifiers for half-truths and insinuations that erode trust in Black authority.

The Cost of Constant Character Trials

Each time these narratives go unchallenged, another barrier goes up between residents and the people who represent them. When Black readers see their own leaders constantly portrayed as unstable, angry, or untruthful, many begin to believe that no one like them can govern honorably. That’s the quiet success of disinformation: it doesn’t have to prove a lie—it only has to plant doubt.

Reclaiming the Frame

Black Vanguard Media exists for this reason—to reclaim the frame. To remind Cleveland that:
- Kevin Conwell was the target of gunfire, not the author of controversy.
- Richard Starr is a product of resilience, not rage.
- Joe Jones deserves accountability with fairness, not trial-by-headline.

And more broadly, that Black leadership deserves the same presumption of integrity that others are routinely afforded.

The Onyx Report’s final words ring loud:
“Disinformation in Black online spaces is exacerbating, and in some cases causing, Black voter disengagement and disillusionment.”

The solution begins with refusing to repeat their script.

Black Vanguard Media will continue monitoring how mainstream outlets frame Black leadership in Cleveland—because the truth is not just what’s written, it’s who gets to write it.

For a copy of the report click this link👇🏾

ttps://onyximpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/onyx_impact_landscape-1.pdf