Katie Couric has come under fire for the deceptive editing of her gun violence “documentary” titled “Under the Gun.” It was revealed earlier this week that Couric and her producer manufactured a scene in the documentary that made a group of gun rights activists appear like dumbstruck, speechless morons when faced with a Couric “gotcha” question on background checks.
The backlash was swift, exactly as it should have been. Couric and her team are masquerading as journalists, like much of the mainstream media does on a regular basis. The current level of trust in the media is virtually non-existent. A recent poll shows that a paltry 6% have “a lot of confidence” in the media.
Nevertheless, propagandist Couric issued some word salad that many are construing as an apology, including her fellow media harpies.
Here is what Couric said on her website:
As Executive Producer of “Under the Gun,” a documentary film that explores the epidemic of gun violence, I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL). My question to the VCDL regarding the ability of convicted felons and those on the terror watch list to legally obtain a gun, was followed by an extended pause, making the participants appear to be speechless.
When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a “beat” was added for, as she described it, “dramatic effect,” to give the audience a moment to consider the question. When VCDL members recently pointed out that they had in fact immediately answered this question, I went back and reviewed it and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent their response.
VCDL members have a right for their answers to be shared and so we have posted a transcript of their responses here. I regret that those eight seconds were misleading and that I did not raise my initial concerns more vigorously.
I hope we can continue to have an important conversation about reducing gun deaths in America, a goal I believe we can all agree on.
This is not an apology.
Couric “takes responsibility” for the content of the documentary, something that was never in doubt. We all know she’s responsible and it’s why people directed their anger towards her. She goes on to “regret” that those manufactured eight seconds were “misleading” for the audience. It’s as if the blame falls on the eight seconds and not the person who artificially and deceptively placed them in the footage.
Your producer put the “effect” in and you allowed the deception in order to make a point. Would you substitute eight seconds of silence for “effect” in a documentary about “abortion violence” if a pro-choice advocate was asked whether dismembering a third -trimester fetus was murder? I don’t think so.
The left always plays around with agency when the real subject of their concern is inconvenient. It’s not criminals who are the problem; it’s the gun that is the problem. It’s not undiagnosed mentally ill people that are the problem; it’s the gun. It’s not inner city crime in Chicago that is the problem; it’s the gun.
You know what? It’s not the gun that is the problem; it’s the media and Katie Couric.
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