(no subject)

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I just want to say at the outset that my point in this post is not to rehash the Trayvon Martin case again. The point is to highlight the problem with believing the media with no reservations.

NBC fires producer over edited Zimmerman 911 call

The recording aired on NBC's "Today" show on March 27, when the audio viewers heard suggested that Zimmerman volunteered to police, without provocation, that Martin was black: "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black." But the tape had been edited, and the portion where the 911 dispatcher specifically asks Zimmerman if the person in question was "black, white or Hispanic," was deleted.

This editing specifically changes the connotation and meaning behind the Zimmerman's words and makes him out to be actively profiling rather than just answering a simple question. This is the kind of thing the media should not be doing. I'm glad that NBC pursued this and took care of it, but the point remains that it happened and it tainted public opinion. Now ask yourself how likely is it that it was discovered in this case simply because it's a high profile case and how often does it happen in other cases where it isn't discovered?

(Yes, I know that they claim it was accidental, but it doesn't really matter if it was or not. The problem remains either way.)

Comments

[oslo.livejournal.com]

I just want to say at the outset that my point in this post is not to rehash the Trayvon Martin case again. The point is to highlight the problem with believing the media with no reservations.

If I concede that the transcript was edited in a way that made Zimmerman's statements appear more "racist" than they really were - inadvertently or otherwise - will you concede that this line of attack against the "media" represents a good example of how conservatives are perfectly happy to "racialize" events like this in order to distract from the genuinely culpable actions of Zimmerman and the Sanford police department?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I don't see a connection between those two things, so why should conceding one result in conceding the other?

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Conservatives didn't racialize this.

The first I heard of this incident was from racialists demanding "justice".

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

Never would have happened if it was a Fox News fuckup.

[oslo.livejournal.com]

It's kind of sad when the "Today" show has more exacting journalistic standards than a cable news network.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I agree, neither the editing nor the investigation would have happened. ;)

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Let the deflection begin.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

Not really how moderators should behave, is it?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Yes, let's see how the professional skeptics claim this doesn't matter:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/george-zimmerman-shaken-baby_n_1408421.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/31/trayvon-martin-shooting-911-call-screams_n_1394224.html

Aside from their obvious indications that a teenager is not life worthy to be concerned about but only a fetus is.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

From who, exactly? Are you waiting for people to defend NBC's edit?

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Let the deflection begin.

We had the raw 9/11 calls to listen to here in talk politics. That they edited them is not in dispute.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

How does this impact the situation in any way? What does this have to do with anything? I don't watch network news, I never saw the broadcast, so how is this some kind of vindication for anybody?

[blue-mangos.livejournal.com]

Doubt about the media in general perhaps but not so much this case. This was one news network. The tape I heard which was off the website of the local paper in Florida had that line in it originally. Doesn't change the facts of the case.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

It's good that someone who screwed up this way got fired.

It's got nothing to do with the actual case or the facts, however.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

That's a big steaming pile of bullshit right there. I hope they're being called loudly on it.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

I stopped watching TV news a long time ago. The internet has a way of getting you important information whether you want it or not.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile the funeral home director who did the autopsy on Martin's body didn't find any wound on him other than the gunshot in his chest and Zimmerman's lawyers are not going for SYG so much as SBS. Evidently his lawyers must think he's a poor chance of using that defense, poorer than the professional skeptics that have cluttered the Martin threads.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

didn't find any wound

So... there was no fight, even though witnesses said there was?
Then there's the video of wounds on Zimmermans' head: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/george-zimmerman-enhanced-video-shows-injury-trayvon-martin-16053206

I somehow doubt the funeral director is a forensics expert, and I'm fairly certain bruises take time to show up (on a living body).

[oportet.livejournal.com]

If somehow a video came out, that caught the entire confrontation - audio included - I still doubt anyone's opinion would change.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Heh, probably true.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Between the president, NBC, and other racialist agitators, there's no chance Zimmerman could find an untainted jury pool.

It's a good thing that no evidence countering his claims has come forth.He may get by without going to trial. But even if that happens, the racial animosity has been stoked so high there probably will be riots.

[oslo.livejournal.com]

What is a "racialist" even supposed to be? At what point are we legitimately permitted to notice that people are treated differently based upon their apparent "race," without being called a "racialist?"

It really, really bothers me that people so cavalierly refer to the President's comments on the matter - which any appropriately open-minded person should have taken to be a personal insight into what it's like growing up "black" and being the parent of black children in this country - as just "racialist agitation," whatever that's supposed to be. It smacks of dehumanization and willful ignorance to the way our society conceptualizes and treats race.

How are we, as a society, supposed to move past racism if such a large contingent of the public discourse is built upon delegitimizing and discounting the personal views of the people who experience it as a regular part of their lives?

[muscadinegirl.livejournal.com]

It's going to be terribly difficult to find an impartial jury on this case.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

A jury is never impartial.
At BEST they are impartial about the matter before them.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

I just want to say at the outset that my point in this post is not to rehash the Trayvon Martin case again. The point is to highlight the problem with believing the media with no reservations.

Maybe to this end you can find some supplementary examples? The sample size of one (1) is a bit lacking here.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

That's not the sample size, and it's not really the number of successes either.

Now ask yourself how likely is it that it was discovered in this case simply because it's a high profile case and how often does it happen in other cases where it isn't discovered?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I remember that this portion was published unedited elsewhere and here's an article from the 21st of March including that portion from MSNBC:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/21/10791755-neighbor-comes-to-defense-of-trayvon-martins-shooter

I of course expect that this example that the mainstream media is not a monolithic bloc, deriving from a reality-based argument, won't make a dent in the persecution complexes of people who need to feel society is out to get them.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

It happens all the time. I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore.

[paft.livejournal.com]

Racists sure hate the word "racist."

Hmmm. I wonder why....

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Are you saying you hate being called a racist?

I was fine with calling you a racialist because you didn't seem to advocate or support a system racial disparity. But considering the recent news and your past support I don't see how you could be considered not a racist.

So why are you so racist?