Megyn Kelly, Alex Jones and a Fine Line Between News and Promotion

Where’s the line between covering a scoundrel as a news figure and giving him a promotional platform? The question has consumed Megyn Kelly the week of June 12, after she showed a trailer of her coming feature on NBC about Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who has questioned whether the Sandy Hook school massacre truly happened and asserted that Sept 11 was an inside job.

“#ShameOnNBC” and “#ShameOnMegynKelly” campaigns broke out across Twitter, including from some Sandy Hook parents; JPMorgan Chase pulled its advertising, and Sandy Hook Promise, a group founded by Sandy Hook parents to prevent gun-related deaths, canceled Kelly’s planned appearance at its annual gala this week. Coming on only the third episode of her new NBC newsmagazine, “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly,” the segment has become, as the technical television term goes, a hot mess.