Monday, January 09, 2017

CBS radio report created the impression Chicago torture victim was a black man assaulted by white Trump supporters

Blog: CBS radio report created the impression Chicago torture victim was a black man assaulted by white Trump supporters:
"This may be the single most despicable act of media bias I have ever encountered.  It took a lot of effort and art for CBS Radio to put together an early report on the Chicago torture incident that was strictly factual, yet created the impression on listeners that a group of white Trump supporters had attacked a helpless mentally challenged black man.  Mediaite provides a transcript of what was reported last Thursday morning by a top-of-the hour broadcst distributed to radio stations across the country.
In the brief Thursday morning report– which attracted attention when a listener posted the clip on Reddit Friday– here’s how CBS characterized the attack:
"The viral video of a beating and knife attack in Chicago suggests the assault had racial overtones. CBS’s Dean Reynolds tells us the victim is described as a mentally-challenged teenager.
In the video he is choked and repeatedly called the n-word. His clothes are slashed and he is terrorized with a knife. His alleged captors repeatedly reference Donald Trump. Police are holding four people in connection with the attack. [Emphasis added by Mediaite]"
The report is technically correct, but widely misleading. By noting the attackers used the n-word during a racially-motivated attack while “referencing” Donald Trump, the clear implication is that the victim was black and his attackers were racist Trump fans.
...Now consider for a moment how difficult it must have been for CBS News employees to make themselves bulletproof (in their minds, at least) by being factual, yet create a counterfactual message in the minds of its listeners. This is the sort of lying that takes skill and practice..."
Read on!

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