Al Sharpton
We have been complaining about MSNBC's rush to convict George Zimmerman ever since the news broke about the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Al Sharpton, Lawrence O'Donnell, Martin Bashir and Ed Schultz have all used their shows to "prove" to their listeners that Zimmerman tracked Martin down and executed him because he was black. That is bad enough. To make things worse, they have even doctored the 9-11 conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher to make it appear that Zimmerman was honing in on Martin's race. (Hat tip to Weasel Zippers for the below Washington Post article.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/nbc-to-do-internal-investigation-on-zimmerman-segment/2012/03/31/gIQAc4HhnS_blog.html
That is inexcusable. Zimmerman clearly did not volunteer the information that Martin looked black as NBC made it appear. He was answering the dispatcher's question who was trying to get a physical description. What kind of journalism is this?
Combine this with the lynch mob mentality that is rampant out there, the New Black Panther Party bounty offer (which MSNBC ignores), the inflammatory statements made by certain people in Congress like the comical Frederica Wilson (D-FL), NAACP marches demanding Zimmerman's arrest, and the obvious fact that Sharpton is combining his role as MSNBC anchor with that of on-the-scene activist and protest leader, and you have a volatile cocktail that may lead to vigilante justice and murder.
Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
It is time for NBC to do some real soul searching here and take corrective action if they hope to continue as one of our major news giants. Being editorially liberal is one thing. NBC is now in the business of making and twisting the news. I've been watching the disintegration of American journalism my entire adult life. This is the absolute worst I have ever seen.
7 comments:
I have an alternative narrative to offer:
One cannot legitimately maintain that America remains the same racist nation it in many ways still was in 1950, after standing in a supermarket check-out line observing that PEOPLE magazine has a photo of Trayvon Martin on its front cover, headlining his death as an American tragedy.
I don't read PEOPLE, but millions do. Our popular culture had no room sixty years ago for giving such prominence to the death of anyone with his complexion. Some things have changed, irrevocably. That should be acknowledged.
I don't much care whether George Zimmerman is a racist or not. I care that he had no business stalking a young man legally walking down the street, and initiating a confrontation which ended up with Zimmerman shooting to death a person he had no business accosting in the first place.
"This is the absolute worst I have ever seen it."
No. You have seen it just as bad on FOX. You just don't care when your side does it.
Anonymous,
I accept your challenge. You tell me why Fox's coverage is bad and let's compare it to MSNBC.
How about the time when Sean Hannity criticized Obama for going to Europe and saying: "there have been times when America has shown arrogance"?
How is that bad? It was the first part of a sentence. The second part was: "...but in EUROPE there is an anti-Americanism that has been derisive and dismissive of all the good things we do."
Hannity and the conservative pundits had a field day with that one, having it be the centerpiece of Obama's so-called "apology".
I could provide more. Media Matters lists the distortions of Fox News quite frequently. They're "biased" though, so you will dismiss them, which makes as much sense as dismissing your points without examining them because you're biased.
Anonymous,
I remember what Obama said and you are correct as to what he said. I don't know about the Hannity part, so I'll take nyour word for it. Even so, this is worse.
No, the late Breitbart's selective edit of Shirley Sherrod's speech to the NAACP dinner was much worse... and I have watched the ENTIRE video of the speech, as well as the heartfelt statements of the "white farmer" in question testifying that Sherrod was a good friend who saved their farm, and anyone who calls her a racist, "they don't know what they're talking about."
O'Reilly had the good grace to apologize and admit he hadn't done his homework, after picking up on Brietbart's handiwork. Breitbart, however, was no gentleman about it. Sherrod's expression of sympathy for his family, when B. died, was a class act.
Let's also not forget the doctored videos from the ACORN offices by James O'Keefe. Although with that one, even the "left-wing media" played that story.
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