Well, this caps a pretty good day in a pretty good way.
We hear Zimmerman’s attorneys are about to file a complaint against NBC and its top executives, naming news president Steve Capus and correspondent Ron Allen, who was the reporter on the scene for the broadcast on “Today” on March 27. He also remained the reporter for the story on “NBC Nightly News.”
A source tells us, “The suit will be filed imminently against NBC and its news executives. The network’s legal department has put everybody in the news department involved with this incident on notice, telling them not to comment.”
At issue, of course: The Tape.
George Zimmerman was not a public figure when NBC editors snipped his 9-11 call, making it sound as if he was racially profiling 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. As we showed here at PJM/PJTV, the odds of NBC’s deceptive edit happening by accident were vanishingly small.
Those of us in media make mistakes all the time in good faith. But NBCs Zimmerman edit was an internal edit that cut out relevant information between two segments of audio, done with no noise or pops that are the usual telltale signs of an accidental cut. The network doubled down on the bad edit by airing it on its Today show.
The edit, Zimmerman is likely to argue, created a narrative pitting an older man (presumed to be white because of his name) against a younger black man because of the latter’s race. NBC did the edit before the world knew that Zimmerman is not white but Hispanic, and with a very mixed racial background that includes black family members.
NBC’s edit destroyed Zimmerman’s life by building up a racial motive in what now looks like a self-defense killing. He now awaits trial because of that edit. It’s too much to hope that he can destroy NBC with this lawsuit, but here’s to hoping anyway.
They’ll settle. It’s only money.
I hope Zimmerman winds up owning these fools. They should be flogged in the public square. This stuff is inexcusable. It is reprehensible coming from a supposed news organization. They have ruined this man’s life to tell a lie to the public. They did it because they figured they could get away with it. There ain’t no do-overs on this one folks. Saying, “My bad.” just won’t get it. Everyone that had any part in this fiasco should be jailed.
Sue, baby! Sue!
makes me so happy to read this . go for punitive damages thet really did a number on his reputation..go for a very large amount!.
I hope he forces them to publicly admit that they doctored the tape on purpose. I want it as the lead to their main evening news show. I don’t want it blamed on some “rogue individual”. I want them to cop to a culture of propaganda.
I also want a pony. With wings.
The second is probably easier to provide than the first.
As the first White Hispanic in the history of the USA, Zimmermann should get preferential treatment.
After all, we don’t want USA to be labeled as a waacist country, do we?
This is not the only tape doctored by the Ministry of Propaganda and Lies. Let’s hope the suit goes forward and they go into discovery. Now, wouldn’t that be a can of worms?
And what about the doctored photo obscuring the bloody gash on his head? This should be a criminal case as well as a civil case.
And I sincerely hope that suing New Black Panthers, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson Jr is next on Mr Zimmerman’s list.