NBC to do ‘internal investigation’ on Zimmerman segment [NBC edited tape to make him look racist]

Washington Post ^ | March 31, 2012 | Erik Wemple

[grundle]

NBC told this blog today that it would investigate its handling of a piece on the “Today” show that ham-handedly abridged the conversation between George Zimmerman and a dispatcher in the moments before the death of Trayvon Martin. A statement from NBC:

“We have launched an internal investigation into the editorial process surrounding this particular story.”

Great news right there. As exposed by Fox News and media watchdog site NewsBusters, the “Today” segment took this approach to a key part of the dispatcher call:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.

Here’s how the actual conversation went down:

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.

The difference between what “Today” put on its air and the actual tape? Complete: In the “Today” version, Zimmerman volunteered that this person “looks black,” a sequence of events that would more readily paint Zimmerman as a racial profiler. In reality’s version, Zimmerman simply answered a question about the race of the person whom he was reporting to the police. Nothing prejudicial at all in responding to such an inquiry.

It’s a falsehood with repercussions. Much of the public discussion over the past week has settled on how conflicting facts and interpretations call into question whether Zimmerman acted justifiably or criminally. That’s a process that’ll continue. But one set of facts in the is ironclad, and that’s the back-and-forth between Zimmerman and the dispatcher. To portray that exchange in a way that wrongs Zimmerman is high editorial malpractice well worthy of the investigation that NBC is now mounting.

[mreerm]

words mean things.

look carefully at what NBC is saying:

“We have launched an internal investigation into the editorial process surrounding this particular story.”

...investigating the editorial process that underlies all our reporting, including this particular story???

...investigating the editorial process that permeates our way of doing business, but got away from us this time???

...investigating the editorial process that resulted in a story that drastically miss-represented the real facts???

no

we're gunna self investigate this one story and get back to you

translation = we're gunna spend some inhouse time figuring out how we DIDN'T slip this one by you...fix that so we won't be so blatant in the future...and concoct a story that let's this blatant attempt to manipulate the narrative slip by too...it's what we do

[thethirddegree]

I am retired and hold two earned degrees in Journalism. Back when I was in college in the 1965-1969 time frame the focus on news reporting was very intense on reporting only the facts and to leave your opinion on the editorial page. We have fallen a great way from those days.