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NBC Apologizes For Editing Zimmerman 911 Call
Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that NBC has completed its investigation into the Today show's mishandling of the police dispatcher's conversation with George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case with a finding of error, plus an apology. The apology addresses the show's failure to accurately abridge the conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher in this high-profile case. This is how the program portrayed a segment of that conversation: Zimmerman: 'This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black' Here what was actually said: Zimmerman: 'This guy looks like he's up to no good. Or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.' Dispatcher: 'OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?' Zimmerman: 'He looks black.' In an appearance on Fox News's Hannity, Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center, called this omission on the part of Today an 'all-out falsehood' — not just a distortion or misrepresentation. 'On the good front, [NBC] acknowledges the mistake and apologizes to viewers for the bad editing. It's a forthright correction and spares us any excuses about the faulty portrayal. On the bad front, the statement is skimpy on the details on just how the mistake unfolded,' writes Erik Wemple. 'In light of all that's happened, Zimmerman may be a tough person for a news network to apologize to, but that's just the point: Apologies are hard.'"
I always marvel at the calm, reasoned tone ACs approach situations with, and the perspective their comments can lend an otherwise troubling issue.
I agree. This is an inexcusable instance of media bias, a plain example of stripping context out of a story for spin.
Zimmerman is still a murderer, though. You don't get to claim self defense when you started the fight. If you hunt down and kill an unarmed child, you can expect to be tried for murder.
Bull. By that rationale, we should probably get all our Lady Gaga news here too, because some nerd, somewhere, likes her music.
Slashdot is nerd news. This is not that. I don't come here to listen to idiots like you rant about random social issues that have nothing to do with technology.
Zimmerman grabbed his gun, jumped out of his car, and chased down a random stranger who was just walking down the street.
Nice way to lie.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
What people constantly fail to point out is that in the past year, Zimmerman's neighborhood had been robbed 8 times by somone described as a "young black male." I would have called the cops to.
I used to live in a neighbourhood where burglary at the hands of young white males was commonplace. I didn't feel the urge to call the cops every time I saw a young white male walking along the street.
Racist prig.
Drill baby drill - on Mars