NBC issues apology for edited Zimmerman 911 call

[Red Hat]

NBC News issued an apology Tuesday for the way it handled the broadcasting of the 911 conversation between George Zimmerman and a police dispatcher in the Trayvon Martin case.Following reports that NBC aired audio of the call was edited in a way that implied Zimmerman was racist, the network launched an internal investigation.

"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," the network said in a statement cited by Link Removed. Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watch leader, admits shooting and killing Martin one night in February, but he has said the shooting was in self-defense and justified under the state's "Stand Your Ground" law. He also said Martin attacked him, but that and other details of the case remain in question, as authorities continue to investigate whether to charge Zimmerman.NBC's "Today" show ran the edited audio of Zimmerman's phone call to a police dispatcher, seeming to show Zimmerman saying, "This guy looks like he's up to no good … he looks black."A transcript of the complete 911 call shows that Zimmerman said, "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."The 911 officer responded saying, "OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?""He looks black," Zimmerman said.The abridged conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher that NBC ran on March 27 has been blasted by media watchdog groups as misleading. Critics have said the edited version was made to suggest that Zimmerman targeted Martin because he was black -- an accusation by many that is still under investigation.The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more: NBC Issues Apology For Edited Zimmerman 911 Call | Fox News​

 

[golocx4]

Makes me wonder. Before the internet how much were we being manipulated by the media. They had cart blanch and there was no way of holding them accountable. If you brought something up you were labeled a nut job.
I no longer trust them and get my news from the net or Canada Stations (they actually report news and don't spend countless hours talking about Obama.)

 

[Nightmare45]

Don't even listen to NBC, CBS, ABC anymore spending to much time trying to make a story than report with accuracy. They have forgotten the principal of who, what, where, when and why. Maybe their license to broadcast should be removed.

 

[Rhino]

Makes me wonder. Before the internet how much were we being manipulated by the media. They had cart blanch and there was no way of holding them accountable. If you brought something up you were labeled a nut job.
I no longer trust them and get my news from the net or Canada Stations (they actually report news and don't spend countless hours talking about Obama.)

I already knew, but not without significant effort. I was taking statistical analysis in college and we had to do a series of practice theses using statistics in preparation for our final thesis. We had to choose a contemporary topic that had enough valid statistics available to perform an empirical analysis. I chose gun control for one of my theses because it was contemporary and there were always statistics being published in the media about it, so I figured it would be relatively easy. I was basically politically neutral at that point. My mother was a democrat, but I didn't discover that until years later. Politics just weren't a topic during my childhood. My father was killed in Vietnam. After several years in the Air Force I was leaning conservative, but I was by no means a diehard. I had fired guns during my youth but had never owned one. When I began the research for my 'easy' topic I soon discovered that almost all of those statistics published in the media that I was hoping to rely on were not valid. They were almost all based on non-scientific polls or the result of surveys from political organizations with an axe to grind. I was pissed, not just because I didn't have all of the stats I needed for my thesis, but because I had discovered just how much I and everyone else in America had been lied to and manipulated by the media for so long. That was my great political eye opener. I entered college as a mostly politically neutral, non-gun owner, and exited as a registered Republican, NRA Life Member with my first two guns.

And I did eventually find enough valid scientific research to support an empirical analysis of gun control. It doesn't work worth a damn. Shocker, huh? Actually, it was a shocker to my professor. He said it wasn't often that a student picked a new topic that really opened his eyes, but I had. He was impressed. I think he bought his first gun too.

So yes, I knew before the internet came along that we were being manipulated by the media, but it took a lot of effort for me to discover it.

 

[CharonPDX]

It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.

That describes me every time I walk to the convenience store. This is Portland, it rains a lot. And I "look about" to be sure of what's going on around me.

Sorry, those extra lines don't help Zimmerman at all. I still stand my ground in saying that he LOST "stand your ground" protection by following. He escalated by following, plain and simple. Martin became the one who had the right to defend himself under "stand your ground" when Zimmerman became the aggressor by following in a threatening manner.

 

[janinecarne]

Always check multiple news sources to get a more accurate account of the story. Yes, it is very sad that this is necessary. Today's news channels are for the soundbite and what may draw a bigger audience, not the accurate portrayal of the story.

 

[Firefighterchen]

It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.

That describes me every time I walk to the convenience store. This is Portland, it rains a lot. And I "look about" to be sure of what's going on around me.

Sorry, those extra lines don't help Zimmerman at all. I still stand my ground in saying that he LOST "stand your ground" protection by following. He escalated by following, plain and simple. Martin became the one who had the right to defend himself under "stand your ground" when Zimmerman became the aggressor by following in a threatening manner.

How was he following in an threatening manner? Because he had 911 on the line when he was following?

 

[Kaze 11]

I haven't posted on this subject yet. Mainly because there just wasn't/still isn't enough information for me to make definate claim. However, as more and more information comes out, it appears that Mr. Zimmerman was doing his job of watching the neighborhood, calling 911 with something out of the ordinary, and keeping watch until the authorities arrived. We have not heard, and probably never will, what actually happened. Was he following too close and in an aggessive manner? None of us know. Just following someone does constitute or give the person being followed the right to become physically aggressive. Did he say something to Trevon? None of us know. What we do know is that he called 911, says that he was returning to his vehicle, an altercation insued, and a shot was fired resulting in the death of someone.

It really irritates me that the media, Jackson, Sharpton, and the like are trying to bully the justice system rather than letting it take its course. I still have not made up my mind whether Mr. Zimmerman was right or wrong, there just isn't enough information yet. The problem the media, and those wanting to convict him already, are creating is good people that would normally step in and help someone in need, stop a violent crime, or participate in a Neighborhood Watch program may now decide that it's best to just mind their own business and basically make it easier for the bad guys to do bad things. If he did wrong he should be convicted. But that is the job of local police department and courts to decide.

Just my 2 cents....

 

[Rhino]

You can't escalate a confrontation that doesn't yet exist.