The saddest part is that Fox couldn’t even be bothered to find an actual militant saying “kill cops”. Because there are plenty, and it’s not exactly a secret that we support armed self-defense against the police.
The Black Panthers weren’t scared to say “kill cops”, I don’t see why we should be so aghast that someone would even suggest that about us.
Fox + News is the formula for the creation of an oxymoron. MSNBC ain’t far behind…and they’re working to catch up.
I wonder how many of those chants were started by undercover cops and Breitbart “reporters”.
Lots of fun to assume malicious intent (FOX!), but after looking at (and listening to) the footage, I believe it to be an honest mistake (also, Sinclair is not really FOX). The station had the speaker, Tawanda Jones, on set during the 5:30 news today to apologize to her and issue a correction.
The stations website is foxbaltimore.com. The show was Fox45 News. There’s a chain of ownership involving Sinclair, but the Fox association is clear.
Tawanda Jones did not appear to accept the excuses or apology (“honest misunderstanding”):
“how can that be a mistake?”
snip
“At the end of the day, people’s lives are on the line,” she said. “Now, even though we’re doing this, I still don’t feel safe because I still feel like the message is out there."
Toward the end of the interview, Jones started crying, saying that the station “murdered [her] all over again” by sullying her name.
snip
“What if a crazed-out cop or a crazed-out supporter thinks I’m trying to get cops killed?” the devastated Jones said.
(interview excerpts from http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/baltimore_protestor_confronts_local_fox_affiliate_that_edited_kill_a_cop.html . It’s worth reading the whole piece for quotes and details.)
This follows the nopology pattern of making wild accusations, get them settled in people’s minds by confirmation bias, then CYA after the damage is done. I don’t blame her for being afraid. The station couldn’t ignore the problem once other local media (Baltimore Sun, WYPR radio) picked it up. Personally, I can’t believe that such an obviously inflammatory piece, which required work by “A lot of brains” (Fox45 quote) deliberately leaving off the end of the chant, then having the reporter prime the pump as digitalArtform says, was an “honest misunderstanding”. People are dying, this is not a mistake about a mall’s opening date.
Look up articles in baltimoresun.com and kennethburns.tumblr.com/ .
Ah, yes, a retraction & apology long after that particular cat has left the bag on the distant horizon.
Will this FOX affiliate be doing the rounds of social media to correct their mistake with every incredulous buffoon that shared this as gods truth?
No, they won’t because Mission Accomplished™
And given Baltimore’s history of civil unrest and urban decay, you’d think any broadcaster in that city would try just a little bit to not be drumming up anger in the populace. Glad you mentioned Jones’ sadness and fear of the whole affair. What a godamn shame that Jones should have this shit foisted on her and her family by FOX. Well done, local news. Well done.
What’s really scary to me is that the people protesting police abuse and murder in their towns are being co-opted by the whitebread FOX people to suggest that they really just want to kill cops because reasons. Ginning up this sort of unrest leads to the path of burned cities and more abuse.
Tangential to this story is an article I read recently about the regularity of self-identified white southerners having African DNA. Given that I happen to be one of those southerners, and that I’ve had my own family members essentially tell me that black people are criminally-minded as a rule…I think America has a lot of soul-searching and healing to do.
This is actually a lot of fun for us DNA genealogists because we see the reactions all the time: the horror, the horror!
See also: 100% German-heritage types from Stormfront taking the test to prove how German they are…they always find out they have at least a few % of Ashkenazi Jewish in them.
No, but it IS riveting news (and a terrible day for journalism). Tune in at 11 for the next chapter.
WBFF wasn’t always evil. I mean… Ahoy Captain Chesapeake!!!
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