The memorial service for Charlie Kirk on Sunday was the kind of story that stops the media world in its tracks. No matter your politics, no matter your opinion of him, the death of someone who founded one of the largest conservative youth organizations in America is news.
Yet, the way some cable news outlets handled coverage of the funeral revealed just how fractured the media landscape has become when it comes to deciding what is — and what isn’t — the biggest story of the day.
Fox News, Newsmax, and NewsNation treated the funeral as a major event. Each network carried hours of coverage, from the service itself to the eulogies and analysis afterward. They understood that, for millions of viewers, this was not just another Sunday. It was a moment of mourning, reflection, and remembrance for a figure who had an undeniable impact on political conversation over the past decade.
Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC took a different route. Yes, they mentioned Kirk’s death. Yes, they included brief packages, segments, or live look-ins noting the funeral. But the sustained, live coverage you saw on other channels? That was largely absent. Instead, the two networks continued with their usual Sunday political panels and regularly scheduled programming.
The question isn’t whether CNN and MSNBC had the “right” to program their networks how they saw fit. Of course they did. The question is whether they acknowledged what was the biggest story of the afternoon. Topic A is Topic A. No matter if it doesn’t align with political ideology or whatever other reason you could try to use to justify not covering the event.
Sunday wasn’t short on news. There were ongoing debates about the presidential campaign, global unrest, and the ever-present horse race of politics. But when more than 750,000 people were watching the funeral live on YouTube across the Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, and the LiveNOW from Fox News channels, it’s hard to argue there was anything more pressing in that moment. That number doesn’t even count television viewership. That’s three-quarters of a million people actively choosing to watch on a single platform.
It’s not difficult to see why conservative outlets dedicated so much time to it. Kirk’s reach with young audiences, his role in shaping conservative media, and his reputation as both a firebrand and organizer made him a central figure in American politics. But that’s precisely why other outlets should have recognized the significance, too. His influence went far beyond one ideological camp.
Consider the optics: one set of networks gave the story wall-to-wall treatment, while others gave it passing mentions. For viewers who were curious, or for those who didn’t consider themselves deeply invested in Kirk’s career, CNN and MSNBC left them on the proverbial table. Viewers looking for coverage had to go elsewhere, and many did. That’s not just a matter of ideology, it’s a matter of understanding audience demand.
Cable news networks will often talk about “owning the story.” Whoever provides the best, most comprehensive coverage during a major event usually wins the ratings and the credibility. By not fully leaning into coverage of Kirk’s funeral, some outlets surrendered that ground before the battle even started.
No one is saying that every second of the day should have been dedicated to the service. But when the story of the day is clear, it deserves the kind of coverage that reflects its importance. The fact that Fox News, Newsmax, and NewsNation recognized that, while CNN and MSNBC largely did not, shows how divided our definition of “biggest story” can be.
The funeral of Charlie Kirk wasn’t just a political event. It was a cultural one, too. It drew national figures, media personalities, and grassroots supporters alike. Raw emotion was brought out, there was genuine reflection, and it created more than a few headlines of its own. That’s what makes it newsworthy — and why ignoring or downplaying it doesn’t do justice to viewers.
At the end of the day, the media’s job is to identify what matters most. On Sunday afternoon, the funeral of Charlie Kirk was what mattered most. That’s not a partisan statement. It’s simply an acknowledgment of reality: Topic A is Topic A. And when networks decide not to treat it that way, they risk losing viewers — and credibility — to those that do.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
For a political commentator, no. Outside of fox, this event deserved no more mass media coverage than I would expect upon the death of Bill Maher or Jon Stewart.