NBC Apologizes for Zimmerman Tape Screw up
Read Time:2 Minute, 11 Second
Controversy was everywhere in the days following the news of the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old black kid, but George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman. There were 911 recordings, witness statement recordings, and much contradictory information. NBC, it appears, was in the thick of it.
NBC has completed its investigation into the mishandling of the police dispatcher’s conversation with George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case. And the process ends with a finding of error, plus an apology. Here is the statement just issued by the network:
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.
That apology addresses the “Today” show’s failure to abridge accurately the conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher in this high-profile case. This is how the program portrayed a segment of that conversation:
Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.
And here is how it actually went down:
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.
No matter how you feel about Zimmerman, that bit of tape editing was unfair to the truth and to Zimmerman’s reputation, such as it is. Reaction on Twitter and elsewhere to my previous post on this matter, was brutal toward NBC, with many comments suggesting the worst about the network’s motivations, reliability and so on.
Does the statement adequately address those concerns? On the good front, it acknowledges the mistake and apologizes to viewers for the bad editing. It’s a forthright correction and spares us any excuses about the faulty portrayal. On the bad front, the statement is skimpy on the details on just how the mistake unfolded. Nor does it articulate an apology directly to George Zimmerman, the “viewer” who is most aggrieved by the screw-up. In light of all that’s happened, Zimmerman may be a tough person for a news network to apologize to, but that’s just the point: Apologies are hard.
Many thanks to the Washington Post for their contributions to this story.
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Thanks for this post Mike. We Americans seem to love to rush to judgement without waiting for the facts to become clear. Frankly, it does take law enforcement time to dig down to the bottom and reveal the truth.
Of course, it doesn’t help that the Stanford Police ignored the issue for weeks until the Black Media forced it to become a national issue and forced the appointment of a special prosecutor.
I remain confident that justice will prevail, in spite of the egregious slander by the once great NBC News Organization.
P.S. NBC’s apology was a bit mealy mouthed. Someone should have lost their job over this.
Bob I agree that this was unforgivable. I also agree there was a rush to judgement. As to SPD it would not have been within their jurisdiction to appoint a special prosecutor, but the SAO’s office should have petitioned the court for such an appointment. Quite frankly the whole thing has become more like a circus than anything else. I’m trying to report both sides but get hammered if I even mention that Zimmerman could be innocent. Always good to see you Bob.