Trayvon Martin case exposes worst in media

[John317]

Martin, Zimmerman (AP/File, Miami Herald)

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."

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.

"There were no physical signs like there had been a scuffle," Kurtz declared, which the network said proves Zimmerman's claims of a violent encounter with Martin before the shooting are false. "The hands--I didn't see any knuckles, bruises or what have you, and that is something we would have covered up if it would have been there. He looked perfectly normal to me when he came in and the story just does not make sense that he was in this type of scuffle or fight in anything that we could see."

Except, he said, the gunshot wound.

[John317]

Anyone surprised at this?

[bonnie]

Anyone surprised at this?

Not a bit. Claims are made by media and repeated as gospel by those that insist the word "black" being used means a "racial hate crime" Then repeated and repeated.

It has been said the police dept botched the investigation. How? What questions did they fail to ask? What evidence did they fail to look at. Do any of the arm chair prosecutors here or racial pimps like Sharpton and Jackson know? Zimmerman was handcuffed and questioned for several hours without an attorney.The initial report says that Zimmerman is bloody and the back of his shirt is grass stained.Eye witness says Martin on top of Zimmerman.

911 tape censored to leave out total conversation.Zimmerman says black therefore proof he is racist.

Everything about this from the media is to portray Martin as a young black choir boy while Zimmerman is shown as a out of control racist.That was done for a purpose. Martin's previous behavior did not give someone the right to shoot him but it does show a young man progressively going downhill as far as respect for the property of others and respect for others in general. He was where he wasn't typically supposed to be.A place that had a recent rash of robberies.

As proof to some that Zimmerman was a racist the word "black" is repeated over and over,altho Zimmerman was responding to a question when he said that.

Any past behavior of Zimmerman will not be released as that of a young hispanic choir director. Martins angelic young man

picture will be used to enforce that.

Martin is not a young teen that I would have wanted my sons hanging out with,without close supervision.

The waters are so muddied now that it will always remain so.

For many unless Zimmerman is found guilty as they have already judged,convicted and preferably the death penalty,he will go free because "he only killed a young black man"