“During our investigation it became evident that there was an error made in the production process that we deeply regret. We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers.” – official NBC statement on editing George Zimmerman’s 911 call to make the shooter seem like a racist [click here for our previous post on the matter]
They’re only sorry they got caught.
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How could they possibly think that they wouldn’t get caught?
It’s their own elitist attitude of the “common public” is too dumb to see at their academic level.
They never cared about getting caught.
They don’t care that they were caught.
The plan from the start was to blame a fabled ” error ” if the validity was challenged, issue a standard apology and business as usual.
There is no fear of wrong doing where no fear of consequence is preceived.
Ron – love that last line. No fear of wrongdoing…
Ain’t that the truth! Gonna quote that…
Exactly. Think about it, of however many millions saw that price and heard the edited soundbite and now think he’s a racist, probably a few hundred will read about how the soundbite was edited, or will read the apology.
So, mission accomplished, the vast majority still think he said it just like they portrayed it.
That exchange must have been purposely edited to make GZ appear racist, to fit NBC’s narrative. Error my ass.
When exactly did “Journalistic Integrity” go the way of the Dodo bird? Yet the papers and nightly news still wonder why their ratings are dropping day by day as people turn elsewhere for their news.
After Bush v. Gore. Those hanging chads polarized this country more than you could believe. Democrats are pissed about it through the 2004 elections. Then, media outlets started jumping on the Bush hating bandwagon, and the rest has been history.
Additionally, I think that’s why Fox seems “right wing extremist” to our favorite liberals. I know many of their people are very conservative, Hannity and Beck come to mind, but they do report and STFU much more than anyone else.
Apologize to your viewer(s?) . Try apologizing to the man you defamed who has a real good case for libel.
+1
NBC Race Baiting Bastards.
Oops, that’s not what I typed, it must have been a production error. I’ll launch an investigation right away.
Let us know what you find.
Probably autocorrect. These things just happen sometimes.
After further investigation I found there is a new coffee pot in the kitchen, the bullet fairy came by and dropped off two boxes of .40 JHP, there’s a new intern in the office and indeed, it must have been autocorrect. damnyouautocorrect, foiled again!
“Error”? Bull-fvcking-sh!t. None of this comes as much of a surprise, though. I’d trust CNN before I’d trust NBC. And just between you and me, that IS saying something.
When did they broadcast the apology? 3am?
“in the production process”
In other words the editorial managers were over zealous in fanning the flames of hate and fear.
Where is the justice dept. Investigation over this? Someone needs to be fired, no way this was not intentionally edited to be misleading.
We need to change the libel laws that make the news media liable for deliberately distorting material that could be used in evidence in a criminal or civil case. Who could object to this reasonable restriction on freedom of the press?
Zimmerman has an excellent case for a libel suit. Even under the strict standards of NYT v Sullivan, this seems to meet the standards of “knowledge that the information was false” OR “reckless disregard of whether the information was true or not.” Up and down the organization, one or the other was apparently true.
As far as damages: putting someone’s life in danger, emotional distress…
The part I am looking forward to is the discovery. Discovery in Federal Court is very thorough and can be very amusing [to one party, not the other].
Zimmerman winning a suit for libel. That sounds like a good start to justice for me. As to the rest of the case, finding an unbiased jury will be a quite a task.
@great unknown, you’re assuming that actual malice by NBC — not just a mistake — can be proven. NBC said it was a “production error,” so that’s the story that has to be disproven. It won’t be easy. And even if malice can be proven, GZ would also have to prove that the report was wrong. Well, it wasn’t wrong. GZ said what’s on the tape. Sure, I know that the statement was taken out of context, but it’s hard to prove a “taken out of context” case.
The MSM has owned the courts ever since NYT v. Sullivan, and in almost 50 years nothing has changed.
Didn’t GEN Westmorland win his case against CBS on out of context grounds?
No. Mike Wallace alleged that Westmoreland “cooked the books” on VC and NVA dead. Westmoreland settled for an apology — no money. His case was trashed, and he knew it.
I see what you did there.
This is the same thing as a lawyer purposely saying something poignant or inflammatory, knowing full well any objection would be sustained, but it doesn’t matter…the jury heard it, and the objection being upheld doesn’t erase it from the jury’s mind.
Likewise, the hateful bigots and useful idiots all over America heard the original broadcast and couldn’t care less about any apology or error, assuming they even pay attention long enough to know one was issued.
I’ll help the NBC editors take this post out of context. NBC editors – just delete all the non caps words below.
This is a BLOW to whatever infintesimal credibility nbc had left. To ME this apology from NBC is inadequate.
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This is an instance of “botched” reporting; just like Fast & Furious was a “botched” operation into investigation of gun running.
NBC… BULLSHIT *cough* BULLSHIT
someone needs to speak to that female FL. congressional representative’s fashion consultant. a pink rhinestone-encrusted cowgirl hat while inside Congress? really?
Horse is out of the barn. It is gonna be a long hot Summer.
Wonder how many city blocks will be razed?
Good question. Perhaps NBC will flip the bill for reconstruction?
If they were honest, they would say
“We altered the circumstances to show more conflict than the situation initially presented. We made lots of money, sold lots of advertising, generated controversy and got lots of viewers because of this error. Since we are in the business of selling advertising and not exactly reporting facts, we are NOW sorry for what we did because this sells even more advertising. Let’s face it – if our story creates race riots where looters steal, private property is burned and people are injured, there is more news to cover. Win – win for us. Yea!”
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