Gayle King's Kobe Bryant controversy captures the unique pressures she faces as one of the most visible black women on TV

The Washington Post

The CBS This Morning anchor is not only the most valuable person at CBS News, but she is one of the most recognizable African-American women in media today, as The Washington Post notes. But in bringing up the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case in a CBS This Morning interview with Lisa Leslie, King this week faced some of the challenges that her good friend Oprah Winfrey experienced in tackling sexual misconduct allegations against prominent black men like Michael Jackson and Russell Simmons. “You always have this unease in the black community when it comes to this view of black men being taken down with rape accusations,” says Roland Martin, a prominent black journalist who's contributed to CNN. But, he adds, “within the black community, we also have to deal with the reality and have serious discussions about sexual assault.” For journalists covering Bryant’s legacy, Martin says, “it comes down to proportionality. Do you make that the emphasis . . . when it comes to his life and career. Is it a footnote? Is it something that you mention? Is it something that you ignore?” ALSO: Gayle King was merely doing her job in bringing up the Bryant 2003 sexual assault case.