He previously covered the Civil Rights Movement for the network and was seriously injured when hit in the head with an ax handle at a demonstration in Marion, Alabama, in 1965[2] in which Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot and killed by Alabama State Trooper James Bonard Fowler.
In an interview conducted by Eyes on the Prize, on December 10, 1985, Valeriani said, "I think the Selma campaign was kind of the culmination of the movement.
During this time, Valeriani was hit in the back on the head with an axe handle and put in the hospital because of his injuries.
[citation needed] Valeriani portrayed himself as a reporter for CNN from the deck of the French aircraft carrier Foch in the 1995 film Crimson Tide, providing the opening newscast which sets up the plot.
[citation needed] As a participant in the events portrayed in the 2014 film Selma, Valeriani considered the film excellent and substantially accurate in presenting the role of media such as Roy Reed of The New York Times, but found the role of television underplayed.