• Cable and corporate broadcast TV news networks failed to adequately report on anti-trans violence in 2021. 
• From 2020 to 2021, every network’s total amount of coverage of anti-trans violence either decreased or stayed the same, and the quality of this coverage varied drastically across networks. 
• TV news coverage of anti-trans violence decreased from 54 minutes of coverage in 2020 to 43 minutes in 2021, despite the fact that incidents of violence increased. 
• Deadly violence against trans people was discussed in only 19 segments; corporate broadcast networks covered the topic for just 9 minutes, while cable networks covered it for 35 minutes.
• The majority of TV news coverage of anti-trans violence did not include a trans person as a guest, with only 7 of the 19 segments featuring a trans or gender-nonconforming guest. 
• Only 4 of the 19 segments even mentioned the name of one slain trans person.
• MSNBC produced the most reports on the topic, with 29 minutes of coverage combined across 9 segments, more coverage than all other networks combined. 
• CNN covered the topic for 4 minutes across 3 segments, while Fox News covered it for 2 minutes across 2 segments. In comparison, Fox News aired 86 segments about trans people from January 20, the day President Joe Biden took office, through March 18 -- primarily fearmongering about trans athletes and lying about best practice health care for trans youth.
• On the corporate broadcast networks, ABC covered the topic for 2 minutes, CBS for 5 minutes, and NBC for 2 minutes.
• Nearly one-third of the total coverage came during LGBTQ Pride Month in June, with cable and corporate broadcast TV news networks reporting on the topic for 13 minutes in that month.

In 2021, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) identified at least 57 transgender or gender-nonconforming people who were brutally killed in the U.S., marking the deadliest year on record. The majority of victims were trans people of color; at least 36 of the victims were Black, 34 of whom were Black trans women, and 10 were Latino, including nine Latina trans women. Official records of anti-trans violence only go back to 2008 and likely represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to such crimes, as many of the crimes against trans people go unreported or are reported using the incorrect name.

The 57 transgender or gender-nonconforming people who HRC reported were killed in 2021 were:

In addition to lethal attacks, trans people faced alarming rates of violence in the past year: they were sexually assaulted while incarcerated, stabbed, beaten at work, and relentlessly attacked in public. Trans people are disproportionately vulnerable to violence due to discriminatory social factors, such as heightened barriers to accessing health care, stable housing, and jobs. A 2021 Williams Institute study found that “transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization.” 

In 2022,  at least 12 trans people have been killed in the U.S. so far. This coincides with right-wing media outlets – including Fox News – launching hateful attacks against the trans community, including specific calls for violence. On March 31, Fox’s Tucker Carlson even falsely claimed that trans people face relatively lower rates of violence, lying that in the U.S., “you are a lot better off being trans than being not.” Right-wing outlets have also incessantly lied that trans people are “grooming” children for sexual activity, and trans people in turn have faced real-world harassment and violence, including being publicly assaulted and called a “groomer.”

From January 1 to December 31, 2021, Media Matters reviewed news programming between 6 a.m. and midnight on cable channels CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. During that time frame, cable news networks spent a total of 35 minutes discussing anti-trans violence across 14 segments. 

MSNBC spent the most time reporting on the topic, with 29 minutes of coverage across 9 segments. This was more than four times as many minutes of coverage as CNN and Fox News combined. MSNBC’s Velshi produced three segments on anti-trans violence throughout 2021, the most of any cable or corporate broadcast news show. 

CNN covered anti-trans violence for 4 minutes across 3 segments, while Fox News covered it for 2 minutes across 2 segments. Fox News' 2 segments on the topic were about L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón, who was allegedly blocked from pursuing “gang enhancement” charges against “an alleged MS-13 gang member” who was charged with assaulting a trans woman in Los Angeles.

From January 1 to December 31, 2021, morning and evening corporate broadcast TV news shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC spent 9 minutes across 5 segments covering anti-trans violence. CBS produced the most reporting, with 5 minutes across two segments. ABC spent 2 minutes covering the topic in 1 segment and NBC covered it for 2 minutes across 2 segments. 

Key moments and notable trends include

• From 2020 to 2021, TV news coverage of anti-trans violence decreased from 54 minutes of coverage to 43 minutes. Every network except NBC decreased its total amount of coverage during this time period. NBC’s coverage stayed the same at 2 minutes.
• The majority of TV news coverage of anti-trans violence did not include a trans person, with only 7 of the 19 segments featuring a trans or gender-nonconforming guest. CBS and NBC each aired 1 segment that included a trans guest, while ABC’s only segment on the topic did not. As for the cable networks, 4 of MSNBC’s segments included a trans guest while only 1 of CNN’s 3 segments did. Fox News did not include a trans guest while covering the topic.
• Only 4 of the 19 segments -- two from MSNBC and 1 each from CBS and CNN -- actually said the name of a trans person who was killed in 2021. 
• Additionally,  during a CBS Mornings segment on the topic, CBS reporter Jamie Yuccas deadnamed Nikki Kuhnhausen, a 17-year-old trans girl who was killed in Washington in 2019. Deadnaming is when someone calls a trans person by their former name – and it goes against journalistic best practices. 
• Nearly one-third of the reporting on anti-trans violence occurred during LGBTQ Pride Month in June, with TV networks covering the topic for 13 minutes in that month. 

It is paramount that broadcast and cable networks produce accurate coverage about the record levels of anti-trans violence -- and that coverage must actually feature trans voices. That TV news networks decreased the amount of coverage they dedicated to anti-trans violence at a time when right-wing voices are spreading anti-trans hate and encouraging the passage of discriminatory legislation is just one symptom of corporate TV news’ larger failure to adequately report on issues facing trans people. 

Corporate TV news networks have clearly demonstrated that they have the capacity to cover anti-trans violence but continuously choose to ignore the subject. Each network has a responsibility to inform their viewers with accurate coverage and finally improve this woeful dearth of reporting.

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream database for all original programming on cable networks CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC and corporate broadcast news networks ABC, CBS, and NBCfor any of the terms or any variations of the terms “transgender,” “trans,” “transphobe,” “transphobia,” “gender identity,” “gender nonconforming,” “nonbinary,” or “gender fluid” within close proximity of any of the terms “violence,” “crime,” “hate,” “attack,” “homicide,” “shoot,” “shot,” “murder,” “death,” “die,” “dead,” “kill,” “stab,” “strangle,” “beat,” or “burn” from January 1 through December 31, 2021, 6 a.m. EST to midnight daily.

We also searched for the names of the transgender and gender-nonconforming people who were killed in 2021: Tyianna Alexander, Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín, Bianca “Muffin” Bankz, Dominique Jackson, Fifty Bandz, Alexus Braxton, Chyna Carrillo, Jeffery “JJ” Bright, Jasmine Cannady, Jenna Franks, Diamond Kyree Sanders, Rayanna Pardo, Jaida Peterson, Dominique Lucious, Remy Fennell, Tiara Banks, Natalia Smut, Iris Santos, Tiffany Thomas, Keri Washington, Jahaira DeAlto, Whispering Wind Bear Spirit, Sophie Vásquez, Danika “Danny” Henson, Serenity Hollis, Oliver “Ollie” Taylor, Thomas Hardin, Poe Black, EJ Boykin, Aidelen Evans, Taya Ashton, Shai Vanderpump, Tierramarie Lewis, Miss CoCo, Pooh Johnson, Disaya Monaee, Briana Hamilton, Kiér Laprí Kartier, Mel Groves, Royal Poetical Starz, Zoella “Zoey” Rose Martinez, Jo Acker, Jessi Hart, Rikkey Outumuro, Marquiisha Lawrence, Jenny De Leon, Angel Naira, Danyale Thompson, Cris Blehar, Nikai David, Ke’Yahonna Stone, Za’niyah Williams, Nikki Turietta, Rubi Dominguez, and Keeva Scatter. Martina Caldera and Geri Judd, whose names were added to the HRC tracker after the conclusion of this study, were not searched for.

Early police reports and local coverage often referred to victims by their deadnames. We also searched for the deadnames of the 2021 victims but have not listed those names here as deadnaming is a form of harassment.

We also searched transcripts in the Nexis database for all of the above terms and names; however, this double-check was limited to news shows airing between 5 p.m. and midnight on Fox News and MSNBC. We were able to search all cable news transcripts for CNN and all broadcast news transcripts for ABC, CBS, and NBC.

We included segments about anti-trans violence, which we defined as instances when anti-trans violence was the stated topic of discussion or when there was significant discussion of anti-trans violence. We defined “significant discussion” as any back-and-forth exchange between two or more people about anti-trans violence; we did not include passing mentions. We also excluded teasers, which we defined as short mentions from the host of segments coming up later in the broadcast. We rounded all times to the nearest minute.