STFU, White Liberals!

Trayvon Martin case exposes worst in media

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queennubian:

By Dylan Stableford | The Cutline– 17 hrs ago

Senior Media Reporter

The Trayvon Martin case has exposed some of the media’s worst tendencies—selective editing, rushing to judgment, stoking anger for ratings and page views—and it’s taken more than fake photos, the incendiary stumbles of Geraldo Rivera and Spike Lee and verbal clashes between Piers Morgan and Toure to shine a light on them.

Here are three recent, troubling examples:

1. After ABC News aired surveillance video of George Zimmerman, Martin’s shooter, entering a police precinct without any apparent injuries, the Daily Caller treated the tape like a Zapruder film, enhancing still images from the video and concluding that it found “what may be an injury to the back of his head.” The site’s photo “analysis” of the back of Zimmerman’s head—replete with yellow Photoshopped arrows—“indicates what appears to be a vertical laceration or scar several inches long.”

[Related: Video of Zimmerman arriving at police station]

Keep in mind, this is the same Daily Caller that published 152 pages of what the conservative site claims were Martin’s tweets—which, if they were, prove that Martin was a pretty typical high school male, preoccupied with girls, sex and getting out of class early.

2. NBC told the Washington Post that it has launched an internal investigation of the “Today” show’s editorial process after its morning show aired an edited conversation between George Zimmerman and a 911 dispatcher recorded moments before the shooting. The investigation came after Fox News and others pointed out that the network spliced two parts of the call together, making it appear as if Zimmerman had said, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.” In reality, Zimmerman was answering a dispatcher’s question:

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.

3. In an flailing effort to break news in a month-old shooting, CBS News aired an interview with Richard Kurtz, the funeral director who handled Trayvon Martin’s burial.

[Related: Geraldo Rivera finds the “real culprit”]

(via thefoxxypoet)

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mohandasgandhi:

Nancy Grace Ignores Trayvon Martin Case

Why has HLN host Nancy Grace basically ignored talking about the Trayvon Martin (the 17-year-old unarmed teen shot by the yet to be arrested George Zimmerman) case on her show? Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks.

*Why Has Nancy Grace Been Silent About Trayvon Martin On HLN?

I know that we’re talking about Nancy Grace here (and who really cares about that woman?) but her extreme lack of coverage in the murder of Trayvon Martin is reflective of something I talked about earlier: how we treat non-white, especially Black, victims and that is something that’s important to talk about. The amount of media coverage that Trayvon’s case is currently receiving is a fluke. I’m not sure I can even recall a single case involving a non-white child that received more than a 15 second mention in our media, which seems to always be consumed with missing white girl syndrome. How long did we hear about JonBenét Ramsey, Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, Elizabeth Smart, Natalee Holloway, Caylee Anthony, etc.? How many individuals have even heard the names Brisenia Flores, Phoenix Coldon, Stacey English, Bianca Jones, Jahessye Shockley, or Lluvia McCraw?

Crimes such as what happened to Elizabeth Smart are much less rare than the violence which is committed against minorities, especially non-white women, but they still receive a disproportionate amount of coverage and attention, which often increases the levels of fear among white women. When it comes to missing children’s cases, Black children make up over 40% of the cases while only composing 13% of the U.S. population and boys make up a little over half of all cases, yet they don’t even receive a third of the media coverage. We focus on white victims far more than we do non-white victims and our media continues to demonize minorities as criminals instead. 

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists found that, of 12,000 evening news stories aired annually by the 3 major American Networks, only 1% are about Latin@s or issues concerning Latin@s. When Latin@s are featured in news stories, they are portrayed negatively 80% of the time. Latin@s, especially Latin@ immigrants, are much more likely to be included in stories about crime even though immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than U.S. citizens. Because of the way our media demonizes immigrants, we think of them as criminals when, in actuality, they’re nothing of the sort and this unfair image is reflected by our domestic policies, which lead victims to be afraid of the police, unable to go to law enforcement for help, and the crimes committed against them go ignored.

Visible minorities are more likely to be victims of a violent crime than non-visible minorities and far more likely than non-minorities. Over 70% of racially-motivated hate crimes are committed against Black individuals. The disproportionate news coverage has a profound impact on the way we think about minorities and journalists tell us who is important, who isn’t, and who is creating the mess. Journalists write our villains for us and the fact that they almost always happen to be minorities isn’t exactly a coincidence when news organizations are vastly white. When a minority falls victim to a crime, they’re still partially written off as a villain and some of the responsibility is nearly always placed on them. This isn’t true when a white person is a victim. Minorities are devalued as human-beings and this is reflected in nearly every aspect of our society. It’s why perpetrators who committed crimes against white victims receive harsher and longer sentences than those who committed crimes against non-white victims. It’s why our media, except in rare circumstances, doesn’t pick up stories about minority victims despite minorities making up a disproportionate percentage of victims of crimes. It’s why Geraldo Rivera said Trayvon Martin’s hoodie was just as much to blame for Trayvon’s death as George Zimmerman and it’s why Nancy Grace doesn’t even care enough to pick up this explosive story.

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mohandasgandhi:

NBC Execs Privately Briefed On War With Iran By General McCaffrey

Via Salon.com: “Apparently, not only does NBC continue to present McCaffrey to its viewers as some sort of objective analyst, but NBC News executives use him as some kind of private consultant and briefer on the news. On January 12, 2012, McCaffrey presented a seminar to roughly 20 NBC executives and producers — including NBC News President Steve Capus — entitled “Iran, Nukes & Oil: The Gulf Confrontation.” We’ve obtained the Power Point presentation McCaffrey prepared and distributed for his presentation, and in it, he all but predicts war with Iran within the next 90 days: one that is likely to be started by them…”

Salon: Gen. McCaffrey privately briefs NBC execs on war with Iran

On NBC and in other public forums, General McCaffrey has consistently advocated wartime policies and spending priorities that are in line with his corporate interests. But those interests are not described to NBC’s viewers. He is held out as a dispassionate expert, not someone who helps companies win contracts related to the wars he discusses on television.

Despite Barstow’s Pulitzer, neither Brian Williams nor anyone else at NBC News ever mentioned any of these groundbreaking stories to their viewers (even as Williams reported on other Pulitzer awards that year); the controversy over the Pentagon propaganda program was simply suppressed. And NBC continued to feature those same ex-Generals as “analysts” — including McCaffrey — as though the whole thing never happened.

Apparently, not only does NBC continue to present McCaffrey to its viewers as some sort of objective analyst, but NBC News executives use him as some kind of private consultant and briefer on the news. On January 12, 2012, McCaffrey presented a seminar to roughly 20 NBC executives and producers — including NBC News President Steve Capus — entitled “Iran, Nukes & Oil: The Gulf Confrontation.” We’ve obtained the Power Point document McCaffrey prepared and distributed for his presentation, and in it, he all but predicts war with Iran within the next 90 days: one that is likely to be started by them. The first page of the breathlessly hawkish document is entitled “Iran & the Gulf: Creeping Toward War,” and the first sentence excitedly proclaims (click to enlarge):

Most of the report emphasizes the likelihood that Iran — not the U.S. — will act aggressively and trigger a war:

He adds: “We should not view the Iranian rhetoric as empty threats. They are likely to further escalate. There is great opportunity for miscalculation on their part… . They will not under any circumstances actually be deterred from going nuclear. They will achieve initial nuclear capability within 36 months.” About a war with Iran, he says: “Israel would welcome such a confrontation. They have an existential threat to their survival looming in their very near future.” Among his conclusions:

The last page of his presentation pointedly notes what he called “The American People: A Crisis of Confidence in Institutions.” The accompanying chart showed that 78% of Americans have faith in the military — by far the most admired institution in America — but near the bottom was “television news,” with 28%.

(Continue reading…)

You read that right. A preemptive nuclear strike. The war-mongering has officially gotten out of control and then some.

(via theowlintheolivetree-deactivate)

White is the Norm.

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dank-potion:

That’s why there is no need for an Ivory Magazine, White History Month or White Entertainment Television. Look at Seventeen, Elle, Vogue, W Magazine, Fox, Vh1, MTV, NBC, CBS, Philosophy/History/Anthropology classes. They all talk showcase, discuss and study whiteness.. this all belongs to you. It’s run by the white people, of the white people and for the white people. The fact that there needs to even be ethnic classes aside from regular History courses should be a good indicator of how non-existent we are in the grand scheme of things.

Just a short 50 years ago, Black People were subjected to being second-class citizens. This was our parents time, our parents experienced this. How dare any of you tell us we’re being racist for creating our own establishment when we were denied entrance into yours? The gall is outstanding to me.

When someone says “there shouldn’t be a BET” (which by the way is still a horrible representation), what’s really being conveyed is “you all don’t deserve to be heard or seen, this is our territory, you are only relevant when we need to talk about welfare and crimes.” This is whiteness, this is white supremacy. This is what we are angry about.

When someone says Black Magazines only further separates you, I think “Not discussing kinky hair, make-up for darker tones, etc in regular magazines kinda already did that”.

And when I hear that shows with Black people as main characters is excluding, this is when I don’t take white people seriously anymore. Because if your privilege is so strong and blinding that you can’t see that you equal everything that’s not explicitly a Black, Latino or Asian institution, then me educating you is a complete waste of my time, energy and sanity.