Nex Benedict’s death received 85 minutes of total coverage spanning 30 segments and 17 teasers or mentions across the three major cable news channels (CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC) and broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS) in 2024.

MSNBC aired the most coverage of Benedict’s death among cable news networks, with 34 minutes across 8 full segments and 8 teasers or mentions. CNN trailed behind with 23 minutes across 6 segments and 5 teasers or mentions. Fox News, with consistently low coverage of anti-transgender violence, featured only 10 minutes of coverage spanning 3 segments and 1 teaser.

Broadcast coverage of Benedict was scarce: PBS and CBS led with 6 minutes of coverage each, while NBC and ABC produced only 3 minutes of coverage each.

Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr and Asher Aven from the Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma were the only trans or gender-nonconforming guests across all coverage of Benedict’s death on broadcast and cable news in 2024.

More than half of all studied segments (16 of 30) contextualized Benedict’s death amid ongoing rhetorical and legislative attacks on transgender people.

At least 13 segments specifically named right-wing figures such as Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and “Libs of TikTok” creator Chaya Raichik for their part in fostering a culture of anti-LGBTQ animus.

Walters appeared in two segments — both on Fox News — where he denied right-wing bigotry was a cultural factor that contributed to Benedict’s death.

Right-wing media’s anti-trans culture war has fostered numerous threats of violence. Anti-LGBTQ extremist Chaya Raichik — known for running the “Libs of TikTok” account online — often sets up the targets for such threats. Following Libs of TikTok’s online harassment campaign against Planet Fitness in 2024, at least 53 locations across the country received violent threats, and 38 other confirmed institutions, events, and individuals faced threats and harassment after being targeted by her account from 2022-2024. Right-wing media have fueled a rash of harassment, with anti-LGBTQ campaigns against Bud Light and Target materializing into violent threats as well. [Media Matters, 4/5/24, 11/2/23; Forbes, 6/1/23]

Oklahoma has been a hotbed for anti-LGBTQ legislation. Oklahoma was billed “the worst state” for anti-LGBTQ legislation last year, introducing 59 such bills by the beginning of February 2024. The state has already introduced 32 anti-trans bills so far this year, adding to the 114 proposed since 2022. [Reckon, 2/1/24; Trans Legislation Tracker, accessed 4/22/25, 2024, 2023, 2022]

State Superintendent Ryan Walters has used his office to partner with right-wing media pundits. Walters, once considered a potential nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Education, has allowed right-wing media figures — including Dennis Prager and Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts — to write curriculum for Oklahoma schools. Weeks before Benedict’s death, Walters appointed Raichik to Oklahoma’s library board. [The Hill, 11/12/24; Media Matters, 10/6/23, 7/10/24; Oklahoma.gov, 1/23/24]

At least 13 segments on Benedict’s death held specific right-wing figures in media and government accountable. Guests and reporters alike named Walters, Libs of TikTok, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, and Republican state Sen. Tom Woods as chief instigators of anti-trans rhetoric. The governor was named for his role in signing anti-transgender laws in the state, and a segment on MSNBC’s The ReidOut made a reference to his claim that “gender ideology … is eroding the very foundation of our society.” Woods received scrutiny for calling the LGBTQ community “filth” following Benedict’s death. [MSNBC, The ReidOut, 2/21/24; Fox News, 8/1/23; CNN, CNN News Central, 2/26/24, 2/23/24]

Appearing on Fox, Walters denied his policies had any influence in Benedict’s death and doubled down on his anti-trans rhetoric. Appearing on-air after Benedict’s death was ruled a suicide, Walters denied any responsibility in fostering an anti-LGBTQ environment. Instead, he painted himself as the victim of a media crusade, claiming pro-LGBTQ groups were lying about Benedict being bullied to attack him. After Benedict’s complete autopsy report was released in late March, Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher declared in a second segment that Walters was “right on this all along, but the narrative on the left was too strong.” The state superintendent then reiterated his claim that Benedict’s death was being weaponized against him, President Donald Trump, Libs of TikTok, and conservatives in general. [NPR, 3/15/24; Fox News, Fox News @ Night, 3/18/24; 4/2/24]

Hundreds of anti-trans bills have been proposed across the country since 2022, paving the way to a presidential administration with an overt anti-trans agenda. Over the past three years, at least 2,000 anti-trans bills have been proposed around the country, with more than 800 this year alone. Though only a fraction of them have passed (just above 230), the bills themselves have a negative impact on trans people’s mental health. Now, the Trump administration seeks to codify many of these laws at the federal level. [Trans Legislation Tracker, accessed 4/23/25, 2024, 2023, 2022; Boston University, 3/24/23; PBS News, 10/20/24; Media Matters, 2/11/25]

Just over half of segments raised concerns about the impact of anti-LGBTQ bills and rhetoric. At least 16 segments shed light on the anti-LGBTQ culture war that serves as the backdrop for Benedict’s death. LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard — the mother of Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder raised public awareness about anti-gay violence and prompted stronger hate crime laws — noted the anti-LGBTQ animus in Benedict’s home state in particular. “In the state of Oklahoma, they have a particularly challenging instance because of their state school superintendent,” she said. “It gives permission to those who want to bully them [LGBTQ people]. They think there’s no consequences. It’s very disturbing.” GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said Walters “has gross negligence on his hands. He’s actually targeting the LGBTQ community and has been. There are over 54 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed in Oklahoma alone this year, over 400 across the country. Ryan is the tip of the spear in Oklahoma, especially for the school system.” [MSNBC, Ayman, 3/3/24; MSNBC, Alex Witt Reports, 2/24/24]

Segments discussing Benedict’s death included calls for Walters’ resignation and Raichik’s removal from the state library board. Following Benedict’s death, more than 350 pro-LGBTQ groups called for Walters’ resignation for “fostering a culture of violence and hate against the [Two Spirit, transgender and gender nonconforming+] community in Oklahoma schools.” [The Hill, 2/29/24]

Advocates also raised concerns about the safety of Benedict’s school, which were later validated by a Biden administration investigation. After CNN’s Victor Blackwell reported that the school said concerns were “without merit,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson responded, “What I hear from that statement from the school district is that they’re more focused on covering their tail than looking at what is important.” By November, the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights found that the school district had violated Title IX after “deliberately indifferent” responses to several sexual harassment allegations against both teachers and students. [CNN, First of All with Victor Blackwell, 3/2/24; NBC News, 11/13/24]

While MSNBC produced the most overall segments providing broader context about anti-trans attacks, all of CNN’s segments about Benedict included such context. MSNBC aired the most stories about Benedict’s death with context about ongoing attacks against transgender people, in 7 of 16 segments. CNN trailed behind with 6 segments providing context, which amounted to all of the network’s coverage of Benedict. The strongest segments included the February 22 airing of José Díaz-Balart Reports on MSNBC and the March 14 airing of CNN News Central. Conversely, context was scarce on broadcast — CBS included it in only 2 segments and PBS in 1, with ABC and NBC providing none. [MSNBC, José Díaz-Balart Reports, 2/22/24; CNN, CNN News Central, 3/14/24]

Zero Fox segments included context, with the network instead outright denying any influence anti-LGBTQ rhetoric could have had on Benedict’s death. Fox’s lone report on Benedict’s death was immediately overshadowed by one of Walters’ appearances on the network. After anchor Trace Gallagher quoted an article from The Oklahoman calling Benedict’s death “a sobering warning to Walters and all those in authority who are passing laws creating policies that strip protections from the LGBTQ+ community,” Walters blasted the paper as the “Wokelahoman” and said, “They are pushing an LGBTQ+ agenda to demonize conservatives.” Both Gallagher and Walters proceeded to scoff at a Salon article claiming “adult MAGA rage” is endangering students. [Fox News, Fox News @ Night, 3/18/24; The Oklahoman, 3/15/24; Salon, 3/18/24]

Only 2 segments included a trans guest to discuss Benedict’s death. Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr sat down with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle to call out other legislators who take part in anti-transgender legislation. “These deaths are preventable, but they will continue to happen if people continue to espouse fear, and bring forward hateful legislation around trans people in our communities,” Zephyr said. Asher Aven of Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma joined CNN to push for Walters to resign. “I’m indigenous and nonbinary, just as Nex was identifying as at the time of their death,” Aven said. “And unfortunately Nex will not get to grow up and speculate more about their identity and what that meant to them.” [MSNBC, The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, 2/22/24; CNN, CNN News Central, 2/23/24]

Mainstream media have increasingly left trans guests out of discussions of anti-trans violence — but have also shown they are capable of adequate coverage. Media Matters observed a downward trend of transgender and gender-nonconforming guests from 2020-2023, though data from PBS was only included in 2022. In 2020, 65% of all segments discussing anti-trans violence included a trans guest, but by 2023 only one trans person appeared in such coverage. However, mainstream media had several stints of strong coverage featuring trans voices in 2024 when anti-trans election ads began cropping up and during coverage of the Supreme Court case on gender-affirming care for trans youth. [Media Matters, 2/17/21, 5/17/22, 6/8/23, 3/14/24, 11/4/24, 12/12/24]

Coverage of Benedict’s death dwarfed coverage of anti-trans violence for the remainder of 2024. In 2024 alone, 34 trans people were victims of fatal violence. Media coverage for anti-trans violence in general in 2024 amounted to 3 minutes in total, across 5 mentions in other segments. [Media Matters, 5/13/25]

Mainstream media were rightly critical of conservative figures spreading anti-trans rhetoric, only to push coverage suggesting that defending trans people was problematic post-election. More than a dozen segments on Benedict’s death pointed to right-wing agitators stoking anti-trans rhetoric, and even more segments raised concerns about such bigotry more broadly. But after the 2024 presidential election — featuring a blitz of anti-trans attack ads from Republicans — some mainstream media figures began calling for the Democratic Party to have a reckoning on trans rights, highlighting quotes from party members questioning whether supporting trans issues had become a liability. [NBC News, 11/8/24; The Atlantic, 11/10/24; The New York Times, 11/14/24, 11/16/24; CNN, 3/9/25]

The ongoing lack of trans voices means audiences are missing the full story. The Trans Journalists Association’s style guide advises: “Trans people’s voices should be centered in this coverage; they should speak, not just be spoken about.” Yet mainstream media continue to grapple with an absence of trans voices on trans issues — from the declining presence in anti-trans violence coverage, to The New York Times excluding trans people from 66% of its articles on anti-trans legislation in a one-year period, to even Fox News icing out Caitlyn Jenner (the only trans woman to serve as a regular on-air news contributor). [Trans Journalists Association, accessed 4/23/25; Media Matters, 3/26/24; The Daily Beast, 1/23/24]

Media Matters searched transcripts in the Kinetiq video database for all original programming on CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC and all original episodes of ABC’s GMA Early, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and This Week; CBS’ News Mornings, Mornings, Evening News, and Face the Nation; NBC’s Early Today, Today, Nightly News, and Meet the Press; and PBS’ News Hour for any variations of any of the terms “transgender,” “trans,” “gender identity,” “nonbinary,” “gender queer,” or “gender nonconforming,” within 50 words of any variations of any of the terms “murder,” “kill,” “dead,” “death,” “die,” “beat,” “suicide,” or “homicide” from February 7, 2024, through December 31, 2024.

We also searched for mentions of variations of the name “Nex Benedict.”

Media Matters also searched transcripts in the Nexis database for all of the above terms; however, due to a lack of transcripts, this double-check was limited to news shows airing between 5 p.m. and midnight on Fox News, all-day transcripts for CNN, and all broadcast news transcripts for ABC, CBS, and PBS. NBC and MSNBC transcripts are not available.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances when Nex Benedict's death was the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of Benedict’s death. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed Benedict's death with one another.

We also timed mentions, which we defined as instances when a speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned Benedict's death without another speaker engaging with the comment, and teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about Benedict's death scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We rounded all times to the nearest minute.

We included guest appearances, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host invited a person as a guest onscreen in studio, via satellite, via internet, or over the phone as a participant in an interview or a panel to answer questions or to provide commentary, and that person had an opportunity to interact with the anchor, host, or a correspondent fulfilling the duties of the anchor or host. We included prerecorded appearances only for their first, original airings. We did not consider clips that newscasters play to quote or reference a nonparticipant in the segment as appearances.

We then reviewed all identified segments for whether they included a guest who self-identifies as trans or gender nonconforming, included context connecting Benedict’s death to the larger national trend of increasing violence directed at trans people, mentioned Benedict by name, implicated right-wing figures in government and media for creating a hostile environment towards trans people, or cast doubt on the impact of right-wing rhetoric.

Clarification (5/15/25): Additional language has been added to the methodology to clarify what constitutes a guest appearance.