Thursday, December 6, 2012

Just To Be Fair

While I do not retract a single thing I ever said or wrote about the Trayvon Martin case, I think the defendant, George Zimmerman, has a very good case in a lawsuit he has filed against NBC News for defamation, at least based on a story in the NY Times.

NBC, on three separate occasions and on three separate shows between March 20 and March 27, aired a 911 tape in which Zimmerman is quoted as saying, in his first words to the operator:

This guy looks like he’s up to no good or he’s on drugs or something. He looks black.

 In fact, Zimmerman told the operator: “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.” When the dispatcher said, “O.K., and this guy — is he white, black or Hispanic?” Zimmerman then said, “He looks black.”

1 comment:

Bob Peterson said...

I think you may be right about the potential of a lawsuit. This 24-hour news cycle and the instant analysis isn't going to make it any easier to trust what we see and hear that is represented as "news."

I continue to lament the demise of the old-fashioned, make-sure-you-verify-and-get-it-right news rooms.