NBC's Bad Zimmerman Edit - The Non-Story Expands

Breitbart's Big Journo flags a Miami Herald story telling us that NBC6 Miami reporter/producer Jeff Burnside was fired for his role in a misleading edit of the Zimmerman call to 911.

The timing is not clear, but the Herald story and/or this Newsbusters story may have precipitated this cryptic, tell-'em-nuthin' explanation from NBC6.

Maybe NBC 6 is revamping itself as a sit-com because this is pretty funny (my emphasis):

“We take this incident very seriously and apologize to our viewers,” said WTVJ spokesman Matt Glassman. “After conducting an extensive investigation, we are putting a more stringent editorial process in place to ensure this does not happen again.”

Glassman stressed that the Today show and Miami edits took place in two separate incidents involving different people.

Geez, an epidemic of brain lock at NBC! That is deeply implausible (my guess is a Today producer grabbed some local footage without double-checking it) but why would they lie? Protecting Al Sharpton does seem to be a key to this; from the Miami Herald:

“The network is very sensitive about the whole Al Sharpton/MSNBC issue, so when the right-wing bloggers started hammering, they needed to throw them fresh meat,” said the station source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the controversy. “It’s not at all clear how this happened. Obviously, there was miscommunication.”

Hey, hey - it was a left-wing blogger that noted the March 22 mis-edit on the Today Show. I would say the NBC cover-up is unraveling. The NY Times still has nothing but WaPo media watchdog Eric Wemple did flag the Newsbusters story. Not exactly reporting, but better than nothing.

The NY Post has also joined in. Poynter has a real story, complete with phone calls and evasive responses. They do get this:

The WTVJ video, though edited similarly, was not the one that aired on NBC’s “Today” show, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The video that aired on the “Today” show actually came from NBC’s Southeast headquarters, also based in south Florida.

My credulity is straining here. Poynter got good play at MediaGazer, which has links to seven other outlets. Jim Treacher of the Daily Caller points out that Christina Hernandez, an NBC6 reporter, told a different tale on Twitter earlier in April. That has been deleted from Twitter now, but lives on at his blog and in an update here.

Let's have a "to be fair" moment - Ms. Hernandez (who, IIRC from her Twitter stream, was about due for a blessed event and a maternity leave) may not know what happened, and it may be that the other Florida affiliate mentioned above really did get the blame for the NY debacle. Hence her comment that "we get a lot of stuff from national news or other affiliates" may have reflected her honest understanding of the situation. Well, I am not paid to be their press flack.

 

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

This is truly one to savor.

And when will people start to question why Al, Jesse and Crump were clamoring so hard for the arrest and lynching of a Brother?

Race-hustling is really getting complicated these days. What's a Brother to do?

[Clarice]

I hope GZ OWNS NBC when this is over.

[Stephanie]

GZ.. we bring good things to light?

[Stephanie]

GZ... we bring good things to light?

[Stephanie]

Sorry, this software really sux.

[Ignatz]

--Lawyers are good at one thing...finding your money then separating you from it, and I'm talking about their CLIENTS, much less the defendant on the dock.--

I was at one time instructed by my left wing betters that sterotyping was a bad thing.

[El Bango]

"Lawyers are good at one thing...finding your money then separating you from it"

Benzo the Clown just loves writing that comment for some reason.

[lyle]

Hey, Ben. Since you brought up the RK riots, maybe you could remind us wingnutz of the ethnicity of the majority of the victims of all that violence.

I'll wait.

[jwest]

While we’re on the subject of NBC…

Martin Bashir of MSNBC is a pompous, unpleasant little dwarf, isn’t he?

Why would a cable television network that depends on attracting viewers think that someone like him would be an asset?

[Danube of Thought]

I'm skeptical that GZ has an actionable claim against NBC or the individual stations, but I sure hope he does.

[lyle]

Why would a cable television network that depends on attracting viewers think that someone like him would be an asset?

To ask the question is to answer it. They're not interested in attracting new viewers but reinforcing bias in witless turds like BF.

[NK]

DoT-- if the facts ultimately prove out to be what you and others believe them to be, GZ will get a big settlement check from Comcast/NBC... even if he is declared a 'public figure.'

[Clarice]

It might well be defamation to edit the 911 calls in such a way as to suggest GZ was motivated by racism, DoT, and were it not for that implication, would the SP have been appointed and the indictment made? Would the NBPP put a bounty on his head forcing the Zimmerman family into hiding, GZ ro lose his job and place in school? As for malice, it's clear that the network knew the edit was phony and took its time to correct the error. If the plaintiff can make it past a motion to dismiss, I bet we will find too close connections with Crump and Sharpton at the heart of the "error".

[PaulV]

NBPP or New BlacKKK Panther Party?

[Theo]

Clarice --

I think it is more of a "false light" case than defamation. I also think that it would be EXTREMELY difficult to argue that he was indicted, lost his job, harrassed, etc. because of that one news report. Causation and damages will be difficult.

I doubt that Sharpton or Crump had any direct hand in the editing. Some well meaning liberal who did not want the public to be confused by too many facts and cut out the parts that did not fit the narrative.

[Clarice]

If it were not for the "edit" on what basis did the SP suggest that GZ was "profiling" TM? On what basis would the DOJ be looking at the case?

[Clarice]

In sum, it put GZ in more than a "false light", an embarrassing position. It subjected him to real consequences.

[Danube of Thought]

"It might well be defamation to edit the 911 calls in such a way..."

That's the question. And I agree with Theo that it could a false light case, and that causation will be tough to show. I believe GZ is an unintentional public figure.

[NK]

Clarice-- the fraudulent edit-- exactly, the last thing the media want to litigate is whether misleading editing constitutes 'malice'. If they lose that-- they are out of business. Comcast/NBC writes a check - IF the facts turn out to be as you all believe they will.

[Theo]

Clarice --

Good grief, not even this prosecutor could possibly justify the "profiling" remark on the NBC "edit." She has the entire tape. The "edit" is not a plausible cause of her using the word "profiling" and it is difficult to see how GZ was damaged by that word.

It is my understanding that DOJ took a look because of white shooter/black victim and political pressure. Crump certainly had a role in that, but again (a) the DOJ did not base its looking at the case on an edited news report (or would never admit having done so) and (b) it is not clear that being the subject of an investigation is recompensable damage.

[Wapsipinicon of thought]

Maybe it was just easier to write "white" than it was to write, "white hispanic Afro-american." Ha Ha Ha HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHA!

[narciso]

Why do you assume that, Theo, facts not in evidence, he subsequently talked up the rally
in Sanford, that no doubt fed on the lie he had planted earlier, back on the 19th, and
then the link was enbedded on subsequent stories, then the actual transcript had to be ignored, as we found out when they were released,

[lyle]

I hope everyone is sitting down or at least braced for this datum of one of NBC's fired producers:

Jeff Burnside [snip] Named “Top TV Reporter” by the New Times in 2007, he is on the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/04/26/second-producer-fired-in-zimmerman-911-call-edit/

[narciso]

It's not clear that the first producer was fired, of course that was more the fault of Breitbart, you know even Legum the Think Progress hack, avoided Burnside's faux pas.

[narciso]

I should be clear, Sexton's piece gives no evidence that the first producer was fired, and that is 'the dog that didn't bark'

[Theo]

NK --

I agree that the media does not want to litigate this edit, but let's not get carried away. It was in fact a misleading edit. It made it seem as though Martin's race was a bigger factor in GZ thinking that he was suspicious than a full quote would have suggested.

But it is just too much to argue that this one edited version (played a handful of times on one network) caused everyone to run around with their dresses over their heads.

Both the state and federal prosecutors had full transcripts. Thousands of stories were published (or played on air) using the full quotes. It was reprehensible and irresponsible but pace narsico, I think it is a very safe assumption that the actions of the state and federal prosecutors were not caused by this edit.

Moreover, I am not sure one has recompensable damages because one was investigated, particularly, when one is investigated after shooting and killing someone. It is IMPOSSIBLE to believe that none of the prosecution or uproar would have happened if NBC had not edited the 911 tape as it did.

[Cecil Turner]

The "profiling" label was being bandied about by Crump well before the information presser (by April 6th at the least). The point is that Corey didn't originate the phrase based on some objective perusal of the evidence, she jumped on a bandwagon.

[Theo]

Cecil --

I have little doubt of that.

MY points remain: She did not base the word "profiling" in the affidavit on the NBC edit, even if she got it from the narrative crowd, Crump, etc. I have zero doubt she would have used that word even if NBC had never aired its bowlderized edit.

Moreover, I am not sure that GZ is entitled to damages against a news organization because a prosecutor accused him of "profiling" (which, according to the affiant, was a race neutral term).

[lyle]

If Dan Rather had a son, he'd look like Jeff Burnside.

[Who would you rather in your neighborhood?]

If you had a son, President Obama, I wish he'd act more like George Zimmerman than Trayvon Martin.
=================

[Clarice]

There is no evidence that Corey conducted much if any of an independent investigation and plenty of evidence she relied on press accounts.

As far as I can see she interviewed Dee Dee and Mom. Period.

That all the transcripts were available to her machts nicht if in fact she relied on NBC and never studied the transcripts herself.And that is precisely ehat I think she did.

NBC is not off the hook because the SP was a dunce.

[fdcol63]

The problem is that, as O'Mara was alluding to in the bond hearing during Gilbreath's testimony, the use of the word "profiling" was clearly meant to convey the silent, but well understood, association with "racial" profiling.

[Theo]

Perhaps the more interesting question is whether being (implicitly) called a "racist" is so utterly reprehensible that it should fit into a new category of "libel per se."

(For the non lawyers in the crowd, "libel per se" refers to accusations so vile that the person libeled will be PRESUMED to have been damaged by any such libel. The other category is "libel per quod" which requires proof that the libel actually damaged the innocent person.

[Danube of Thought]

If Homer Plessy had a son, he'd look like George Zimmerman.

[Rob Crawford]

Good lord. 3/4ths of the tweets I've ever sent (at least), immortalized.

[Bob]

I hope GZ OWNS NBC when this is over. Clarice

I hope GZ owns COMCAST who owns NBC-Universal. Then he busts it up and sells it for scrap.

[Theo]

Clarice --

Do you have the slightest shred of evidence that Corey relied upon the NBC edit to do anything? It is staggeringly difficult to believe that no one on her staff ever heard or read the entire 911 tape and based their conclusion on this one news report. I suspect that it would be impossible to ever prove such a thing.

[Theo]

Rob --

And your picture too!

[Rick Ballard]

Theo,

Why shouldn't Zimmerman (once cleared) apply the Corey Standard in filing suit? What difference does it make whether it's insupportable in law as long as NBC is willing to pay danegeld to make it go away?

[Theo]

Rick --

Works for me!

[NK]

Theo-- all these cases turn on tiny facts and get complex. That said, why would NBC falsely edit the audio if malice weren't involved? That is a doomsday scenario to litigate for Comcast/NBC. Plus, they just fired the main witness on that issue-- did Burnside give a fact affidavit claiming no intent to defame? If GZ wins immunity or a unamimous acquital, the Comcast suits may just decide to write a check-- and fire alot of people.

[MarkO]

The new theory of the case has Homer Plessy as a white man. That's racial progress. Next up, Blake Griffen.

[AliceH]

I have zero doubt she would have used that word even if NBC had never aired its bowlderized edit.

I know this one! Absque hoc!

[Clarice]

As long as we have hate crimes, why not rule that calling someone a racist is libel per se, a charge that makes any crime he might commit subject to substantially greater penalty and one that in any event makes him an object of opprobrium?

[Extraneus]

The Miami Herald story says that Burnside was fired on Friday, April 20th. Yet, didn't we get word as early as April 6th that an NBC "producer" was fired for this?

Here's the LA Times from the 7th:

NBC News has fired a producer for editing a recording of a neighborhood watch volunteer's call to police the night he shot an unarmed teenager, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

Did two people get fired?

[fdcol63]

People who do this to maliciously and intentionally destroy someone's reputation and safety should be fired upon, not just fired.

[Clarice]

Online you'll find a number of sources that claim calling someone a "racist" is libel per se: Here's onehttp://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/afellow/MassMediaLaw/LibelandSlander.html

SOme may disagree, but then the definition has been known to change over time and I think these days there can be no question that calling someone a racist injures his reputation,

[lyle]

Good lord. 3/4ths of the tweets I've ever sent (at least), immortalized

To say nothing of your mugshot. Anyway, Christina may be preggers but she can still do a sprightly two-step.

[Bob]

the Comcast suits may just decide to write a check-- and fire alot of people. NK

When Comcast merged they made a big deal about not changing anything at NBC because they were all such great pros, blah, blah, blah. The suits do not want anyone costing them money. Ever. This is exactly the type of fiasco which will lead to a complete turnover. It might take a while while contracts run out but this kind of stuff is career ending. And they all can't make documentaries for PBS.

[DebinNC]

Good lord. 3/4ths of the tweets I've ever sent (at least), immortalized

And your pic reminded me of a favorite movie quote from Gross Point Blank: "You're a handsome devil. What's your name."

[Bob]

As long as we have hate crimes, why not rule that calling someone a racist is libel per se, Clarice

So Holder's DOJ may have made the libel per se case for them. The irony is too much.

[lyle]

I'm highly skeptical that Comcast/NBC will clean house as a result of some settlement with GZ over this.

Anyway, on the slightest of chances that they would, they'd simply hire more people with the exact same ideology but perhaps younger and with lower pay.

[Danube of Thought]

"calling someone a racist injures his reputation"

Thank goodness no one takes seriously the fools from whose tongues the insult flows so trippingly at JOM.

[Jane (Better a crate than a plate)]

WEll this is not unexpected - Obama was a bystander in the Bin Laden Mission.

[DebinNC]

NBC's edit fanned the flames and put GZ's life in even more jeapordy as it went viral. But NBC continues to zealously guard the names and faces of the culprits, even though the tale of the edit is big news that the public is entitled to.

[Ignatz]

--caused everyone to run around with their dresses over their heads--

That one just screams for a visual aid but I promised cc nothing before 5:00PM PST.
Nuts.

[PaulL]

Say, can anyone think of a punchline to Michelle Ibama's statement today, "But you know one fantasy I have, and the Secret Service they keep looking at me because they think I might actually do it, is to walk right out the front door and just keep walking."

I've been struggling with it.

[Extraneus]

Great job, Rob!

[Barry Hussein]

"opprobrium"

I pretty sure Google will be mining that from passing comets. By the way, if not for the government, there would be no google.

[lyle]

but I promised cc nothing before 5:00PM PST.

So you've ruled out kilt-wearers?

[lyle]

"But you know one fantasy I have, and the Secret Service they keep looking at me because they think I might actually do it, is to walk right out the front door and just keep walking."

Well, mine would be: I have never been more proud of my country until Mooshele walked out of the WH. Too reductive?

[AliceH]

PaulL: How about "Go on, girl - live the dream!"

[lyle]

PL: I hope that caboose has turn signals.

[centralcal]

Go ahead, Ignatz - BUT, PLEASE - TODAY ONLY! Boss out of town, one other out sick, another out of office. Only two of here right now, no clients around.

[Stephanie]

and the secret service they keep looking at me

Wondering what she'd charge for her services in South America?

Her spoken grammar is just as appalling as her written grammar isn't it?

It must be a bitch having at least two narcissists in the same household.

[MarkO]

"one that in any event makes him an object of opprobrium?'

Clarice, I'm for this and I would add, to make the usual threesome, ridicule and scorn.

Somedays, however, I favor the overuse of wicked words to take the fear and meaning out of them. We've nearly reached that with racist. It has begun to lose any real sting. It's now just garden variety vituperation.

[Ignatz]

--Say, can anyone think of a punchline to Michelle Ibama's statement today, "But you know one fantasy I have, and the Secret Service they keep looking at me because they think I might actually do it, is to walk right out the front door and just keep walking."--

Seems to me it already is its own punchline.

[centralcal]

This will surely drive liberals nuts - Scalia and Hagan, hunting buddies:

We have to give some kudos to Scalia, but it looks as though we have Sen. James Risch of Idaho to ultimately thank for this fortunate turn of events. Back in 2010 when Obama nominated Kagan for the Supreme Court position, Risch asked Kagan about her views on gun rights. She admitted that she'd never fired a gun before, but made a promise to go hunting with Scalia if she were confirmed.

Kagan kept her promise and went on a hunting trip with her philosophical opposite. The pair took a quick trip to a Virginia shooting range, followed by a hunting trip in the Washington area. When asked about the experience, Kagan replied, "It turns out, it's really good fun." The pair are planning on hunting again in Montana this October.

[Clarice]

scalia is also great friends with fellow oepra buff Justice Ginsberg. What a sexis.

[lyle]

Seems to me it already is its own punchline.

The whole administration is one big punch line.

Now we've got Sheriff Joe averring that O has a "big stick." How in the hell is that not racist or, my favorite formulation, a "dog whistle." Oops, it seem that one may not roll of the prog's tongue like it used to.

[centralcal]

lol, lyle!

[Jack is Back!]

The great bloviator O'Really? is going to pursue this question tonite.

Can GZ sue for damages against NBC?

Are any of you blonde in 6 inch heels? If so, your opinion would be of interest to Bill.

[Sue]

I wondered if that was our Rob Crawford. JOMers are like savoir faire. We're everywhere.

[Ignatz]

Not as much selection as one might think;

Not over her head but pretty sexy;

The classic Marilyn and Kate Middleton shots are over exposed IMO, so to speak.

[Captain Hate]

Thank goodness no one takes seriously the fools from whose tongues the insult flows so trippingly at JOM.

Anybody using the term amidst a collection of raceless pixels should permanently relinquish all claims of being a serious person.

[Captain Hate]

I wondered if that was our Rob Crawford.

I assumed it was; particularly with the OH appended.

[MarkO]

So now we're all raceless pixels. It sounds naughty.

[lyle]

This will surely drive liberals nuts - Scalia and Hagan, hunting buddies

Gee, I don't know. I have two very liberal Obamalites in my extended family and their husbands tell me they both want to go to the range and/or buy a handgun.

[lyle]

It sounds naughty.

Or at the minimum, epicene.

[MarkO]

You want a useful word as an insult? Coprophagic. As in "wipe that coprophagic grin off your mouth."

[Rick Ballard]

Next Tuesday is the Commie Day kickoff for the murderers, rapists and arsonists who make up the occupooper squads. The planned Zimmerman Lynching was, IMO, a tie in that was supposed to bring out Black Klan elements to join in the festivities.

Is there anything else going on in race hustling that might bring out the Black Klan to help the occupoopers burn down a Blue Hell or two? I know Klan leaders were threatening to burn down Detroit unless the state shoveled in more money - is anything similar going on in any other Blue Hell?

[bgates]

The pair are planning on hunting again in Montana this October.

"They figure it'll be the last opportunity to safely hunt for Bigfoot before the winter during which Michelle Obama will live out her fantasy to walk right out the front door and just keep walking."

[narciso]

In the 'how deep is your batysphere' department

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/fashion/what-should-a-female-vice-president-wear.html

[Melinda Romanoff]

Rick-

Here they call it the warm up for NATO. I expect the paid purple haze to be thicker than average. SEIU is the largest union here, now, after AFSCME.

[Clarice]

We ought to be able to make more of this:"We're headed in the right direction. Unemployment continues to drop and those people who are unemployed, they're not going to be voting for the party who wants to cut their benefits, cut access to food stamps, cut job training," Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) said on MSNBC's Al Sharpton program. 
 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/04/25/house_dem_unemployed_will_vote_for_obama_to_keep_their_benefits.html

[centralcal]

Folks here were really up in arms about the attempts to not allow children to work on their own family farms - local talk radio was aflame today! Now comes this bit of good news:

Jake Tapper ‏ @jaketapper
Labor Dept announces "withdrawal of the proposed rule dealing with children under the age of 16 who work in agricultural vocations"

[Clarice]

Swell, that'll take a chunk out of my sharpened pike sales today.

[Extraneus]

That wasn't even listed on dictionary.com, MarkO, but I catch your drift.

[Rick Ballard]

Mel,

Do they want NATO to step up deliveries of kinetic humanitarian aid in support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria?

[narciso]

the tax on small businesses, to pay for the interest rate freeze, will make up some of the slack,

[Beasts of England]

Rob Crawford appears to be a white-white.

[matt]

an interesting letter from Obama to Derrick Bell asking him to review and blurb his first book gives us this tidbit

"As for me, I’m keeping busy in Chicago. I’m currently working at Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland here in Chicago, a small firm specializing in employment discrimination and voting rights/civil rights cases. I’m also teaching a seminar on race and the law at the University of Chicago law school -- your casebook has been an invaluable reference guide for that.

The main reason I’m writing to you, though, has to do with a book that I’ve been writing, on again, off again, for the past two years. Originally, the book (called Dreams of My Father) was going to be a series of essays on issues of race and class, but as it has evolved it’s become a memoir of my family and my experiences as an organizer in Chicago...

Your name came to mind as somebody whose insight I’ve always appreciated, so I’ve enclosed an advanced reader’s edition of the book. If you have time to read it and think it’s worth of a plug, I’d be thrilled..."

I'm not sure if Barack got a tingle up his leg, but close.

Lessee if we can distil this:

.He's a race and class warrior.
.He taught a seminar at Chicago on race and the law.
. He taught from Bell's text(s)

This would have been 1995. Obama was of counsel at the law firm mentioned, which meant he was basically hanging his shingle and relatively inactive. He was on the BoD of the Woods Fund from his Wiki bio.It also says he was a Senior Lecturer at UC from '96-'01 in constitutional law.What's the pay for a senior lecturer at a place like Chicago?

He let his Bar Assoc membership lapse in '01. Why? Seems like it would be a good idea to have a trade if one's political career came to an end.

To me this solidifies my belief that his belief system was deeply formed by CRT. And every time one peels the onion back, there are more questions than answers.

[centralcal]

Fear not, Clarice. You will still make profit on sales, since they probably have 6 or 7 equally stupid regulations to release in the next 72 hours or so.

[daddy]

OT,

Global Warming Update from the BBC.

"Putting on mass."

No, it's not a religious bit, it's a euphemism employed by Richard Black of the BBC to tell us that Himalayan Glaciers are increasing in size instead of decreasing, without actually having to tell us in plain English that they are increasing in size.

[Jane]

SO are you guys following this EPA guy's remarks. The administration is saying "no big deal" the republicans should be walking around with pitchforks.

[Beasts of England]

MarkO@6:29 - "wipe that coprophagic grin off your mouth."

Let's leave Chuck Berry out of this, ok?

[D Bell]

"If you have time to read it and think it’s worth of a plug, I’d be thrilled..."

Dear Barrack -

Your life story is boring. You may want to spice it up a little bit. Maybe something along the lines of eating a dog.

Love,
D Bell

[Danube of Thought]

"the usual threesome, ridicule and scorn."

Obloquy is feeling slighted.

[matt]

Jane;

my latest was on the EPA's Dirty War on conventional energy. LUN

This is all out war now as the videos and memos slowly leak out of the bureaucracy. Nat Gas is one of the best alternatives and we're finding that we are awash in it. It could help lift the economy far more than perhaps any other industry and yet the Greens are at war with it, coal, oil, and nuclear.

that Armendariz bastard is responsible for the oil patch and states unequivically that he wants to crucify the NG industry. And then the NG industry gets crucified?

Methinks tar and feathers are in order.

[matt]

unequivocally, even.