- Prolific American author James Patterson says he’s had trouble getting invitations from networks like CNN and MSNBC to discuss his latest book.
- Walk the Line tells the stories of some American police officers
- Patterson believes that liberal networks have shifted away from covering the topic because they believe it is political
Best-selling author James Patterson believes that the left-leaning mainstream media ignored his latest book release and failed to get it out on their networks because it was about cops.
In a recent interview with News Nation’s Dan Abrams, Patterson, author of more than 200 titles, said that while promoting his new book, “Walk the Blue Line,” he was unable to get a news invite from networks like CNN and MSNBC.
“I think what happened with CNN and MSNBC — they think they understand the cops, but they don’t,” Patterson said, arguing that the mainstream media is not enthusiastic about the subject of his latest headline.
The book, co-authored by Black Hawk Down veteran Matthew Eversman, follows a number of stories of officers who put their lives on the line for the sake of their communities and families.
Abrams, who hosted LIVE PD for several years and now hosts On Patrol: Live, said he believes the problems stem from the media not feeling obligated to cover the cops unless there is a negative angle to the story.
I think the problem is that CNN and MSNBC and their partners in various other forms of media, it’s not that they don’t understand the police, it’s really that they’re just covering up the police when it comes to something in the shooting of an officer,” Abrams said.
Last month, while appearing on Doug Brant’s SiriusXM podcast, Patterson also said he had trouble booking book appearances on CNN and MSNBC, but had no problem getting invited by Fox News.
“One of the unfortunate things here…not unexpectedly, I didn’t have a hard time getting Fox….but I couldn’t get CNN or MSNBC,” he said.
He also said that there is a whole bunch of people trying to demote the book’s rating on Amazon because of the topic.
He said that some users, without reading the book, give the title one-star ratings on Amazon, likely because they don’t feel the stories of police officers in the United States should be portrayed in a positive light.
“The minds are not open at all,” he said.
Earlier this week, Patterson made headlines for accusing The New York Times of “cooking” the bestseller list, in a blistering letter to the editor that they refused to publish.
Patterson raised concerns last weekend in a tweet raising doubts about how the list was calculated.
What’s up with the NYTimes bestseller lists? Anyone but me notice @MikePompeo’s book has sold more copies than the 6 titles on today’s list? ‘ Asked.
And last week, a JD Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) novel was not on the list of novels even though it was still selling more than 4 other titles there. By “best seller,” does the Times mean best to its target audience? ” he wrote.
But after The New York Times failed to respond to his tweets, the 76-year-old wrote a formal letter to the paper’s editor, which also failed to elicit a response.
They told my publishers that they don’t count on just “raw” sales. He explained in a tweet on Sunday, while posting the entire message.
Patterson explained that Walking the Blue Line outperformed all but three of the books on the Times list.
Patterson said the book outperformed 75 percent of the books on the list, according to BookScan, but his book fell short.
“Someone’s not good at math,” he quipped.
He also noted that a book by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was not included in the list, although six other books topped the list.
Perhaps I’m being stupid for thinking that ‘best seller’ is supposed to be a measure of what is most popular among my fellow readers who buy books, as opposed to some of the Times’ value judgments about the way books were sold. Anyway, I’m asking you to please stop it.
Last year, Patterson made headlines again by claiming that it was becoming more difficult for white men to secure jobs in the literary world.
Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It is more difficult for older writers. “You don’t meet many white males who are 52 years old.”
After much backlash, he finally apologised, writing on Facebook: “I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism.” I do not think at all that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support the diversity of voices being heard — in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere.