CNN.com, USAToday.com Bury Coverage of 'Jena 6' Beating Victim

Photo of Matthew Balan.
By Matthew Balan | September 20, 2007 - 13:20 ET

The websites of CNN and USAToday joined their "Big Three" network brethren in covering the march in Jena, Louisiana to support the so-called Jena 6, while at the same time, either burying mention of the teenager who was beaten by the six high school students, or not mentioning him at all.

CNN.com’s report, in which CNN correspondents Susan Roesgen, Tony Harris, Kyra Philips and Eliott McLaughlin were contributors, didn’t mention Justin Barker until the twenty-second paragraph of the story.

The teens were initially charged with attempted murder after they allegedly knocked out Justin Barker -- a white classmate -- while stomping and kicking him during a school fight on December 4, 2006.

Barker was taken to a hospital with injuries to both eyes and ears as well as cuts. His right eye had blood clots, said his mother, Kelli Barker.

Before this, the report focused entirely on the planned march in support of the so-called Jena 6.

CNN followed the report on the victim with a statement from the local district attorney in Louisiana.

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters urged the world not to forget the victim in the case.

"The injury done to him and threats to his survival have become less than a footnote," Walters said Wednesday.

"This case has not, never has been about race. It's about finding justice for an innocent victim, holding people accountable for their actions. That is what it's about," he said.

USAToday.com’s report on the march, written by Marisol Bello, did not mention Justin Barker at all, but focused exclusively on the march and the prosecution of one of the teenagers charged in the beating.

—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.

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That same D.A. Walters also

That same D.A. Walters also called the hanging of 3 nooses from a so-called "white tree" that some blacks had sat under the day before an "innocent prank." He also used the argument that in this case the tennis shoe the assailant was wearing when he kicked the victim was the "deadly weapon" that is necessary for a charge of aggravated battery to be used. It should also be noted that this victim attended a school function THE SAME NIGHT as being beat up so I don't believe Walters use of the term "threat to his survival" is accurate by any means.

6 kids stomping another in

6 kids stomping another in the head and face, until he bled from the eyes, ears, nose and mouth is not severe enough.  The victim was attacked from behind with a weight lifting bar.  Once prone and unconscious, they stomped his head and neck, until they were pulled off of the victim.  That the victim attended a function hours after spending three hours in the emergency room means nothing.  I see people in wheel chairs in the mall; this does not mean they are healthy.  Is your argument really, he wasn’t hurt that much?  How silly is that.   Here are the mistakes made by law enforcement in this matter.  Because Bell was a good football player he was released from serving his sentence on four other violent felonies.  Bell, the ring leader, was let out of juvi, before he served juvenile life for the other 4 violent felonies he had been adjudicated on in the 12 months leading up to the attack.  Adjudicated in Louisiana Juvenile court means the same as convicted in adult court.  The other mistake was the DA made was like most DA’s he attempted to over charge the matter in hopes of getting a plea deal. Attempted Murder would have been a stretch. 

People should know the facts about this case before they jump to conclusions.

 

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With Democrat revisionist history and liberals guaranteeing the future (global warming, nuclear destruction, etc.) only the future is certain; the past is always changing.

 It makes me sick knowing

 It makes me sick knowing that if it had been 6 white kids beat up one black kid the media would be all over it and wouldn't let it go... look at what happened in the Duke case for example.  Are white people less important because of their color?  I don't know about anyone else but I wasn't alive when there was slavery, persecution, or anything else of black people.  So therefore I don't feel that I owe them a damn thing.  Not one. 

 Give this student, that has been beaten, a chance for justice.  The stripper got her "justice" even though she was proven to be a lying ___________.  That's my opinion. 

 If you don't stand behind our troops; please feel free to stand in front of them!

Didnt you get the memo at

Didnt you get the memo at the last White Man Meeting? We are the root of all evil. We are responsible for all the ills past and present, from slavery to New Coke. How dare we go on living.

Just a little sarcasm for your thursday reading pleasure.

Texas has a population of nearly 21 million people, all of whom are ashamed to be from the same state as the Dixie Chicks. (IMAO.us)

Real story

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS/70915030

 Here is a local (liberal) paper, who has a FAQ about the Jena 6.  This has less to do about racism, and more to do about 6 kids stomping another prone, knocked out kid in the face and head, until he bleed from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

 

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With Democrat revisionist history and liberals guaranteeing the future (global warming, nuclear destruction, etc.) only the future is certain; the past is always changing.

Rember boys and girls...

If it were six WHITE people who beat a black person, this would be undoubtedly classified as a hate crime.


Since it is six blacks who beat a white person, it cannot possibly be a hate crime. ::sheesh::

"Since it is six blacks who

"Since it is six blacks who beat a white person, it cannot possibly be a hate crime"

Yes, it's quite obvious that black people do not hate white people in America. But everyone knows that white people hate black people. And if we ever forget that fact we have Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to remind us.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Dont forget Kanye West.

Dont forget Kanye West. Although technically it was only W, but since we are white, we are all guilty.

Texas has a population of nearly 21 million people, all of whom are ashamed to be from the same state as the Dixie Chicks. (IMAO.us)

And white people only hate

And white people only hate Obama half as much because he is half black. Which makes him half white. And if he's half white that makes him not black. And if he's not black he can't very well be the first black president can he? In a similar fasion Hillary couldn't possibly be the first woman president, now could he...she?

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Of course

The media must gloss over the actual crime or the race card scam won't work.

Jena 6

I just heard that the Hildebeast said she was appalled at the "double standard" of justice in this matter.

You know what? So am I.


When I'm president, privatization is off the table because it's not the answer to anything.
-Hillary Rodham, September 3, 2007 AARP Legislative Conference.