On Monday, MSNBC's Martin Bashir aired a video that seemed to show grief-stricken Neil Heslin being heckled by pro-gun lobbyists as he talked about his 6-year-old son, who was killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. While making a plea for gun control at a legislative hearing, Heslin at one point he turned to the audience and said: “I ask if there’s anybody in this room that can give me one reason or challenge this question: why anybody in this room needs to have one of these assault-style weapons or military weapons or high-capacity clips.”
When the audience remains silent, Heslin adds, “Not one person can answer that question.” And that’s when a few people recited the Second Amendment in response. The video that host Martin Bashir aired, though, clipped out Heslin's question and pause in the audience's direction. The resulting edit made it look like boisterous audience members interrupted Heslin's testimony. After the edited video aired, Bashir set up pundits with: “A father’s grief, interrupted by the cries of a heckler. That was the scene today in Hartford, Conn., where the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary testified before an audience that wasn’t always friendly.”
A spokeswoman for MSNBC has declined comment. Although the edited segment is not available on MSNBC’s website, and the unedited version eventually was aired on a subsequent Martin Bashir show and other shows on the networks, conservative activists have pounced. One version, uploaded to YouTube and embedded below, shows Bashir’s version followed by Heslin’s unedited testimony.
It's not the first time a controversy over editing has plagued NBC News. Ten months ago, NBC's Today -- and subsequently MSNBC -- aired doctored versions of a 911 call in the Trayvon Martin case, which led to an apology and several people losing their jobs. The tape had been edited to make it appear that George Zimmerman invoked skin color when reporting "a real suspicious guy," deleting the portion where the 911 operator specifically asks Zimmerman to describe Martin’s race.
Here's the YouTube clip mentioned in the article so you can judge for yourselves if a Declaration of Shenanigans is in order.
Oh and just in case two examples of liberal media bias "never prove anything" either, here's something else from today's news that is not as glaring as MSNBC's selective video editing but it's still enough to make you go, "hmmm...."
Turns out that Glen Johnson, one of those supposedly fair, impartial and objective journalists who was working as the political editor at the Boston Globe...has joined John Kerry's staff for his new position as Secretary of State.
Quote:
“I think the world of Glen and the path he’s traveled as a shoe leather reporter in the best sense of the word,” Kerry said. “I know it was not an easy decision for him to turn a page after thirty years of journalism for a chapter in public service, but he does so for the same reasons he became a journalist in the first place. He’s not a partisan. He just cares about the quality of our dialogue and he cares about our country and he’ll contribute to both of them. I’ll be lucky to have him at my side in this endeavor.”
Umm..."he's not a partisan"? Seems kind of funny that Kerry would just throw out that unprovoked defense of the guy's impartiality. The new Secretary doth protest too much methinks.
Even though Johnson was close enough to prominent Democrat John Kerry - who btw "thinks the world" of him - to get appointed to his staff, I'm sure his political editing at the Boston Globe was right down the middle and never skewed to the Left or anything like that. Perish the thought.
What I want to know is, where did the notion that the media is, or should be, unbiased come from? These are corporations we're talking about here, and corporations have a product to sell. In the case of the corporate mass media, the product isn't news or investigative journalism, it's infotainment, distraction, and opinion shaping (mind control).
This shouldn't even be an argument or debate. What we should be discussing are the far-reaching implications of this system of control.
Taking another look at Kerry's quote about Glen Johnson:
Quote:
I know it was not an easy decision for him to turn a page after thirty years of journalism for a chapter in public service, but he does so for the same reasons he became a journalist in the first place. He’s not a partisan. He just cares about the quality of our dialogue and he cares about our country and he’ll contribute to both of them.
So, one of the "reasons he wanted to become a journalist in the first place" was to make some sort of contribution to our country. But...last I checked reporters were supposed to simply report the facts of what happened, and leave it to others to make things happen. They're not supposed to be striving to proactively make the country better in some way.
Who is to say what's the best way to help our country? Everyone has a different vision. If a supposedly-neutral journalist is using their media platform to "contribute" to the country by furthering his or her own vision of what's best for it...then that right there is what you call a biased journalist, friends.
You seriously won't acknowledge that Chris Matthews is biased and favors the Liberal viewpoint on nearly every political issue, if not every?
I don't watch him, but from what I've read he can swing both ways. As I said, he certainly gushed over Bush, claiming "Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs ..." at a time when the polls showed the majority of Americans with a negative opinion of him.
Or claiming that Bush "glimmers ... with a kind of sunny nobility."
I'm not sure Hannity or Rush would do that with Obama. What do you think? Who on Fox would say that kind of thing about Obama?
Matthews complained about Giuliani being 'screwed over by the press' in 2008. Which conservative commentator on Fox would complain about a Democrat being unfairly treated by the media?
I don't watch him, but from what I've read he can swing both ways. As I said, he certainly gushed over Bush, claiming "Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs ..." at a time when the polls showed the majority of Americans with a negative opinion of him.
Or claiming that Bush "glimmers ... with a kind of sunny nobility."
I'm not sure Hannity or Rush would do that with Obama. What do you think? Who on Fox would say that kind of about Obama?
Okay well since you don't watch him and I do regularly, allow me to enlighten you with a statement of totally indisputable fact about Chris Matthews: He is EXTREMELY biased in favor of the Liberal viewpoint. He may like some Republican politicians on a personal level and dislike some Democrats, but that doesn't change the totally indisputable fact that he is EXTREMELY biased in favor of the Liberal viewpoint.
Okay well since you don't watch him and I do regularly, allow me to enlighten you with a statement of totally indisputable fact about Chris Matthews: He is EXTREMELY biased in favor of the Liberal viewpoint. He may like some Republican politicians on a personal level and dislike some Democrats, but that doesn't change the totally indisputable fact that he is EXTREMELY biased in favor of the Liberal viewpoint.
then how do you explain his comments above? can you point to anyone who might be considered EXTREMELY conservative who would say such gushing stuff about Obama? Who made it clear his choice for the president was a Democrat?
Matthews complained about Giuliani being 'screwed over by the press' in 2008. Which conservative commentator on Fox would complain about a Democrat being unfairly treated by the media?
What does your question have to do with the issue of whether Chris Matthews is a Liberal or not? If Rush Limbaugh says something critical about a Republican or complimentary about a Democrat does that call his Conservative bias into question?
If you've watched Chris Matthews then be honest and admit he is a raging, flaming far-Left Liberal. Or, if you want to claim that (even though you consider yourself well-enough informed on politics to be a regular poster here) you never, ever watch Chris Matthews, then just say you don't have an opinion and leave it at that. Please don't make a complete and utter fool of yourself by continuing to question whether he is a biased Liberal commentator.
Good ol' MSNBC, or, "As if there was any doubt regarding media bias" v2.0
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