Ah yeah, they delivered 24hr sensationalism to a public that had not seen the likes of it before. It was the genesis of "reality" (in air quotes) TV. It does seem clear now that they had help from the DS, but even back then I remember wondering how they were so perfectly placed for these exclusives.
(Deep) State propaganda by stealth.
(related)
Because many indigenous "black" cultures all over the world have been painting their faces white in ritual for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Many of their oral traditions talk of their "gods" as being white (with red hair).
But these things need to be put in perspective. Anything like that done to provoke outrage or division is dickish. If they were doing it for that end then I would think they were dicks, not be outraged.
The issue, as I see it, with Northam is one of hypocrisy, but even that is fairly minor. This is all a cover for his abortion comments and all this debate on white vs black is helping to cover that up. For them.