Report: Correspondent at NBC Affiliate Created Fake Zimmerman Recording
Despite NBC's refusal to engage in any transparency regarding its internal investigation into the airing of two fake audio recordings of George Zimmerman, information about how they made it onto the air is continuing to leak out.
According to a Southern Florida television news blog, the creator of at least one of the false audio clips was a correspondent with NBC's Miami affiliate WTVJ named Jeff Burnside. According to SFLTV, Burnside was the person responsible for editing Zimmerman's call to 9-1-1 which made him appear to be racially motivated in his pursuit of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. That manufactured audio was then taken by NBC News and run on the air:
You won’t hear it anywhere else but here – insiders have told us WTVJ reporter Jeff Burnside was fired last Friday for allegedly editing the Trayvon Martin 911 tape, the same tape NBC aired on ‘Today’ in early April. Allegedly, his firing wasn’t announced internally and so far there is no information whether NBC made a conclusion if the edit was misleading on purpose or if it was an oversight. [...]
NBC launched an internal investigation immediately after the incident, and I’m told several people other than Burnside were questioned, at WTVJ and NBC news, including a WTVJ editor or a news photographer who may have worked on the report. Burnside was suspended while the investigation was ongoing but NBC decided he was the producer and fired him last Friday. An NBC network producer who we’re told only took the edited tape from WTVJ, without checking it (I’m told it’s not unusual since it comes from an affiliate) and could not have known about the edit was also fired in this incident.
The recording in question is the one which makes Zimmerman appear to say "This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black," however there is a second recording which NBC also aired which clipped out vital context and made Zimmerman appear to say "This guy looks like he's up to no good or he's on drugs or something. He's got his hand in his waistband, and he's a black male." (See my previous post about this second recording for more details on it.)
SFLTV's sources did not mentioned who created the second false audio clip.
While we (potentially) may now know the name of the person who made the first recording, we do not know who created the second false clip or the name of the NBC producer who was fired by the network.
Update 2012-04-26 9:09. According to the journalism news site Poynter.org, Burnside did not create any of the altered clips which ran on NBC's television programs. Instead, he created a clip of his own that aired on the WTVJ programs. Poynter has spoken with Burnside and confirmed that he has indeed been fired.
Unlike NBC News, WTVJ has apologized on the air for running a false audio clip. As of this writing, the name of the NBC producer(s) who created the fake clips run on that network's shows is still unknown.
- Matthew Sheffield's blog
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Comments
Push the Media
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 11:57am.
MRC and others need to encourage whistle blowers at the MSM news sites, to report these facts to us.
Tit for tat.
Tailor made news...........
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:16pm.
I cant tell if this is just plain stupidity, to sensationalize the news, or part of a larger problem. Seems with "occupy", and this case, the press wants to mold the news and force a showdown of some kind. What these morons dont get, is the country is in NO MOOD for this crap right now, and the more they manufacture crisis's such as this, they risk a REAL crisis, such as civil unrest, rioting, and god knows what........All to sell newspapers, and to give them something to report.
Out here in L.A., for what reason I cant imagine, the local affiliates are running, wall to wall, REAL TIME re-run of the 1992 L.A. Rodney King riots......WHY??? What is that, a "how to" video for this summer? This is INSANITY!!! Do they think they can "choreograph" rioting?? These SOB's will get what they want, and after it "goes off", they will all wring their hands and drone on and on "what caused this"? When it was THEY that did it!! They will reap what they sow.......I just hope that WE have the GUTS to hold them accountable!!
Edit: Just as a side note, at the start of 1992 riots. The day the verdict was read in Simi Valley, and the officers were acquitted, I was home on a RDO (regular day off) watching TV as the verdict came in. I will never forget seeing Mayor Tom Bradley, and Councilman Waters.......yes THAT Waters, say on live TV, to "take your anger to the streets".....and wa-laa the riots began. Why those 2 elected officials were never brought up on charges of Incitement to Riot is beyond me to this day!! Within the next hour, I was on Tac alert, and deployed to South Central, and spent the next week putting down the riot.........all I can say is that it was "surreal"!
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
BEGRUNT,
Submitted by Agnostic on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:20pm.
"Do they think they can "choreograph" rioting??" Yes they do!
They have the playbook from any Communist/Marxist 'Thinker'.
The riots in Greece recently are only extensions of riots that started in the early to mid-nineties with coordination and planning of subversive communist groups. These same groups choreographed the spontaneous riots before flash mobs became technologically plausible. Now these groups have instant communications (some times with Tax Payer provided cell phones) to coordinate their events and cause havoc. They also have groups of 'oppressed Muslims' in communities throughout the world who are only too happy to join in the destruction of Capitalism and other Western ideas to add to their list of the usual recruits: paid for protestors, poor, students, government workers and various members that make up the proclaimed 'victims' of society.
Agnostic........I have no doubt.....
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:33pm.
The "professional" rabblerousers are involved, the press is making it all to easy to jump start rioting. The press is "cheerleading" these idiots! When it does go down, the press should be JUST AS accountable for the death and destruction as the "professional rioters". Enough is enough!!
EDIT: The problem with "Choreographing" a riot is that some of the "bad actors" go off script...........and death and mayhem ensue, as we saw with "occupy".
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
professional rioters
Submitted by Agnostic on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:34pm.
When have the "professional" rabblerousers and the "professional rioters" of the left ever been held accountable - let alone their cheerleaders in the media. Ayres controls education content and directed the money for a foundation by his vote on the board. Many are officials and professors at our Universities. We elected one as President in 2008.
I agree completely!
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 2:51pm.
The time has come to start holding them accountable!! Prison time, and heavy restitution would finish them off.......only if we HAVE THE GUTS TO DO IT! If we dont, then this will go on and on, until the PEOPLE put it down themselves! I fear this is where this will end up.
EDIT: While we are on the subject....here is another result of Media irresponsibility stoking the fires..........http://spectator.org/archives/2012/04/25/the-mob-in-mobile
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
same ownership runs Ch. 7 in Boston, "if it bleeds, it leads..."
Submitted by agingcynic on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:18pm.
Their news is like a 30 minute video game with airhead correspondents. Mr. Florida looks like he should have been fired just on the basis of that toupee and the pancake makeup. He looks like an oompa-loompa. Joke in Boston is that Ch. 7 goes to the parking lot of Home Depot at dawn and hires the day laborers who can't get a construction job.
Really?
Submitted by ThisnThat on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:20pm.
...whether NBC made a conclusion if the edit was misleading on purpose or if it was an oversight.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Amazing
Submitted by taznar on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 4:47pm.
Amazing, isn't it.
Kind of like not being able to conclude if a bowler got those three strikes in a row on purpose, or if it was an oversight. Because stuff like that happens all the time if you're not paying attention to what you're doing.
I imagine NBC thinks this absolves them of fault
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:23pm.
One would think that when a network news organization gets material from an affiliate or any other source, it would run through checklist -- what we might call the proverbial "Smell Test."
- Was this audio the complete recording? If not, where is the rest of the material?
- Does the source of the recording (in this case, Sanford PD 911 desk) confirm the recording?
- What do the other parties (i.e. Zimmerman) have to say about the recording?
But the MSM, which routinely touts its experience and professionalism as the value-added that 'cyber journalists' don't provide, does little or no research on these type of information. They merely attribute it to another source and throw it out there as new. This is why 24/7 CNN so often gets caught delivering lies.
As forthe fired reporter, I am sure he has plenty of opportunies at Media Matters and MSNBC.
I think that the MSM should
Submitted by ForeverOnTheRight on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:55pm.
I think that the MSM should be held responsible for manufacturing a news story, falsifying recordings etc. It would not be violating their free speech rights. Zimmerman has been threatened by the Black Panthers and has caused friction in the “Black Community” . This manufacturing stories is dangerous and should be criminal! .
Freedom of Speech
Submitted by dreamsincolor on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 1:42am.
I can not agree more.
As far as I can tell the 1st amendment doesn't cover yelling "Fire!" in a nearly inescapable area for fun, nor does it cover taking a recorded conversation and editing it with malice to exacerbate an environment of existing racial division in an entire country. There can be NO DOUBT -- they did it with that purpose as the goal in order to MAKE news.
How is what NBC did -not- actionable as a crime? I don't care WHO personally did it, the fact is NBC aired it! This is utterly unconscionable they should be PUNISHED. If they are so stupid they didn't check it - they don't deserve a license, and if they did check it and are that incompetent, they don't deserve a license, and if neither is true then they should be shut down, fined and someone jailed.
That's what I think.... anyway.
Speaking of riots............
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 1:41pm.
First we get "Thug" Tyson's stupid opinion on the Martin case..............NOW.........wait for it...................We get, RODNEY KINGS opinion.....
http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2012/04/25/rodney-king-on-trayvon-martin-lucki...
King has been in and out of jail like a revolving door since the L.A. riots, and we care what he thinks?? REALLY!!??
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
Not all of us, BEG.
Submitted by UpNorth on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 1:47pm.
But I'm pretty sure that Van Lynchmo really cares.
Ah, yes, the "Clairvoyant" Lynchmo
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 2:05pm.
When will the "mind reader" show up, and spew it's vomit all over the thread?
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
I see law suits worth
Submitted by Semus on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 2:03pm.
I see law suits worth millions of dollars and criminal charges against these, news outlets, liars like Sharpton, Jackson, and every politician that fanned these flames of hatred. The left would be nothing without ignorance, stupidty, hatred and greed. Only this time it should bite them back.
Speaking of Stand Your
Submitted by dscott on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 3:46pm.
Speaking of Stand Your Ground:
Will grandma be charged with race hate for defending herself against two hoodlums with guns?
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2012/04/24/georgia-grandmother-foils-robbery...
"Authorities in Georgia say a grandmother foiled a robbery attempt by two armed men by getting into a shootout with them, injuring one man.
Police told The Telegraph that Lulu Campbell just dropped off her grandson at her daughter’s house early Saturday morning when someone demanded money outside her car, threatening to shoot her...
...Campbell says the man fired at her, missing. The 57-year-old fired back, striking him in the chest. Her truck sustained eight bullet holes in the hood, one in the grill. Both front side windows were destroyed. The second man fled after she shot at him.
“I thought that the only way to protect myself was to run him down,” she told The Telegraph. “Otherwise, he would have gotten away.” "
After all, she didn't behave as a good little victim, I mean liberal, to hand over her money, she instead shot one and then tried run the other one over to stop him from leaving the scene of the crime.
Time To Post a Bounty?
Submitted by minky on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 6:41pm.
So, do you suppose we could post a $10,000 dead-or-alive bounty on this Burnside guy without Holder objecting? After all, he's perfectly OK with the New Black Panthers doing so!!
To be perfectly honest, I feel there is some risk in me even asking the question. That's how scary this criminal administration is.
➚Prelude to a shooting
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 12:44am.
Seems Reuters, the agency that introduced us to "white hispanic", is doing some serious backpedaling on its hate-filled approach to Zimmerman.
I have never seen such sucking up after an entity so invested itself in a witch hunt.
Reuters even introduces the old (one drop rule) of days gone by with Zimmerman's "afro-peruvian great grandfather?"
I think what we're seeing from Reuters, this late in the coverage, is some serious CYA (really porked the pooch on this one).
Actually, it's a very good piece which sheds an altogether new light on Zimmerman.
Look for even Van Lynchmo to be influenced by it, but more importantly, I think it may be a subtle message that this case is falling apart and Reuters has been called in to undo its part in the rush to judgment.
So, do we still have Al Sharpton leading the charge against a white hispanic, or against an afro-white-hispanic.
ABC is also to blame for manipulation
Submitted by Lindamae on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 2:04am.
Matt-
PLEASE post an article showing how ABC manipulated its video of Jorge going into the police station. They neglected to use the camera which shows him collapsing against the wall. They neglected to show the marks on his head - covered it up with writing, poor quality, fuzzy, even though the actual video - which is 6 minutes long - was easily viewed. They are just as guilty of causing a race war when race was not the issue in this case. They owe Jorge and his family loads of money for defamation of character. It should be against the law. Libel? Slander? Can't remember.
But - do the posting.
Imagine this:
Submitted by hkopcf on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 4:47am.
If NBC news will allow a doctored 911 call for an explosive murder case to appear 5 times what lengths will they go to in the coming election coverage in which they apparently have a rooting interest?
Imagine this:
Submitted by hkopcf on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 4:47am.
If NBC news will allow a doctored 911 call for an explosive murder case to appear 5 times what lengths will they go to in the coming election coverage in which they apparently have a rooting interest?
NBC Reporter Fired.
Submitted by cybergeezer on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 8:16am.
WTVJ, Channel 4 News formally apologized for this incident Wednesday night on the 11:00 P.M. news broadcast.
While I can appreciate the apology, this is what news reporters do on a daily basis; "Juice it up" to make it more salacious.
Journalism is no better a profession than used car salesman. You can't sell junk without dressing it up.