Media Matters Caught Context-Editing a Tape — Hey, Where Have We Heard That Before?
**Written by Doug Powers
Media Matters was all about getting the “full context” of Andrew Breitbart’s Shirley Sherrod video from day one. From that controversy, everybody walked away with a good refresher course in the importance of “full context” in the name of honest debate — everybody except Media Matters.
From Media-Ite by way of Sister Toldjah:
Let’s end the week with some Shirley Sherrod-ing – editing a clip to make it sound like a person is saying something that is actually the complete opposite of what they’re saying.
In this case, the offender is Media Matters, which tries to prove that Glenn Beck’s radio co-hosts were saying Keith Olbermann was responsible for the deadly Manchester workplace shooting.
Here was Media Matters’ (sic’ed) headline: “Beck sidekicks Gray and Burguiere: Keith Olberman and media responsible for Manchester shooting.”The sidekicks are Pat Gray and Stu Burguiere, who co-hosted with Beck out today. And why did Media Matters write this? Well, because that is what Gray and Burguiere said – at first. Gray: “Obviously Keith Olbermann is responsible for those eight people dead.”
And Burguiere: “A guy like that who’s a little bit unstable anyway can’t help but react to the constant pressure of Keith Olbermann on the air on MSNBC and all of MSNBC talking about all the racism there is out there.”
But the problem is, the co-hosts were being sarcastic, to make a point. A minute later they get serious, and Stu says “Keith Olbermann was not responsible for any shooting,” but that part is conveniently out of the Media Matters audio. Because Media Matters cut the audio right before they make it clear.
Media Matters issued a correction and altered the title when their attempted Sherrodding of Beck’s people was discovered:
CORRECTION: The original headline on this clip did not make clear that Beck’s co-hosts were being satirical when they linked MSNBC host Keith Olbermann to the Manchester shooting. The original clip also did not include their subsequent statements that Olbermann was not responsible for the shooting. Media Matters regrets the error.
Even without the “full context” of the recording it was painfully obvious that Burguiere and Gray were being sarcastic, but this is where Media Matters often gets tripped up.
If you’ve read the things I write for any length of time, you know that sarcasm takes up a good portion of my tool kit. Satire is like a knock-knock joke — there can be a point to it but there’s never anybody actually at the door. However, if I were to try to tell Media Matters a “knock-knock” joke, instead of saying “who’s there” and then maybe getting a laugh (heaven forbid), they’d get up, open the door, see nobody there, and then write an article entitled “Mean Right Wing Prankster Strikes Again.”
Either that or Media Matters purposefully ignored the obvious and were fully aware they were trying to score cheap out-of-context political points — but that can’t be, because it would mean they engaged in the same behavior they claim to abhor.
However, it isn’t a stretch to assume that if a Media Matters writer published a piece entitled “Glenn Beck co-hosts use satire to point out ridiculousness of blaming media for lone deranged killers,” George Soros would put a stop on his or her paycheck. It would also directly contradict other Media Matters pieces, such as “Beck’s incendiary angst is dangerously close to having a body count.”
Here’s the full Burguiere/Gray segment:
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
CNN anchor astonishment after student in viral photo with Obama won’t say she’s voting for him
April 27, 2012 05:51 PM by Doug Powers
53 Comments
The end of Obama’s rainbow: This is a Photoshop contest waiting to happen
April 25, 2012 12:21 AM by Michelle Malkin
39 Comments
ALEC-bashing NPR reporter fails to disclose ties to lead anti-ALEC group
April 23, 2012 10:54 PM by Michelle Malkin
75 CommentsReuters: Gore’s ‘Current’ close to getting booted from Time Warner cable due to low ratings
April 5, 2012 03:28 PM by Doug Powers
68 Comments
CNN meteorologist blames Texas tornadoes on climate change
April 4, 2012 10:37 AM by Doug Powers
95 Comments
Note to talk radio hosts: Play more commercials during interviews with Arlen Specter… he likes it
April 2, 2012 02:01 PM by Doug Powers
37 Comments
Categories: Media,Media Bias
Babalu Blog
» U.S. Manned Space Flight in The 21st CenturyVillainous Company
» Must Read Post of the Day. Possibly, the YearSister Toldjah
» Barack Obama: Can we call him a Socialist now?Redstate
» Daily Links – May 25, 2012
What they regret is that they were caught, like most of the Washington insiders.
ECS
*Hey brother, you don’t just have the tool kit, like Michelle, you have the full six foot tall Kolbalt tool box, as it should be; I heard the boys live on Beck, and, I guess, Media Matters is void of a sense of humor.
*Like Clint Eastwoods’ character in Gran Torino, I grew up in Detroit, and when he visits his barber and they trade insults on heritage, that’s the good old days for me, devoid of political correctness and gotcha bovine scatology.
Doesn’t change my opinion. I think they should give Olberman the electric chair and then arrested.
I didn’t mean to crowd out comment #3. Seems like I landed on his head.
Nothing new here, but this does reinforce the fact that Conservatives are generally truthful and honest, whereas Liberals are invariably dishonest and at least disingenuous in trying to advance their political positions. This is because when you rely on truth and reason, life is just a lot easier.
Doug has the whole “Klaatu“. Do not get his giant robot pis*ed off.
The Dems have come up with another attack site. I got an e-mail announcing it a few days ago. I don’t remember what they called it, but I do recall that they claimed that Media Matters was involved, so I just deleted it and moved on.org.
there ya go
Interesting, sad and rather bizarre that any sarcastic commentary now has to be identified with /sarc – unless it comes from MSM.
/sarc
To paraphrase Jim Croce’s song, “You don’t mess around with Gort.”
What bothers me is that Olbermann’s name keeps geting air time even if it is in sarcastic ways. The put downs are well-deserved, but why must we put up with hearing his name and more about his inane childishness. Overpaid and overcovered.
Thank the gods that he has been jerked out of Sunday Night Football. I was so tired of hearing him make fun of professional athletes who actually work for a living and must demonstrate some semblance of talent to get paid. Complete moron.
Where’s the “SINCERELY” part of the apology? Did they really mean it? (Say what you mean, and mean what you say!) The ommission of this one word makes me question this mea culpa.
Like all things Progressive, the truth cannot be told, otherwise there would be no reason for their dissent. These meglomaniax, are incapable of presenting a logic-based argument to sway minds, without the use of parsing, distortion, misrepresentation, or prevarication.
All of which makes me conclude that their positions on anything , whether personal, or political, is based on a desire for 1) absolute control, 2) influence of the intellectually challanged (or the lazy), and 3) hatred for anyone who doesn’t share their agenda.
I could carry this argument further, making the point that progressives are responsible for the public’s distrust of government. We know they will lie and distort (the means) to achieve control and power (the ends.)
Conservative Americans hold to the truth, and need no tricks nor manipulations to support their beliefs.
Doug Powers:
Doug, you are illustrating a painfully boring Liberal strategy: taking Conservative satire and charging it as Conservative philosophy and policy.
I’m sure it has been done for the past 60+ years, but I first became aware of this when Al “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot” Franken compiled an absurd list of documented “lies” that he attributed to Rush. To wit, the vast majority of Franken’s evidence were outlandish segments of Limbaugh’s satire, in which Rush was making a larger, more serious point.
I’m amused when Liberals use the same strategy against Ann Coulter, because in these cases, I truly believe that accusing Liberals fail to understand that Coulter’s outlandish statements tend to mirror similar statements by Liberals before her.
Example –
But here’s what Coulter obviously based her satirical and outlandish, judicial statement on -
The larger point is, as is in most cases, Coulter was branded as a “meanie” by the Left for her comments…but who on the right even remembers what Malveaux said first?
I do. The snarky, uber-liberal race-baiting bigmouth pushes the limit of civil discourse. From her website;
She has also written; Sex, Lies, and Stereotypes: Perspectives of a Mad Economist (1994); and Wall Street, Main Street, and the Side Street: A Mad Economist Takes a Stroll (1999).
Appropos name for this racist bomb-thrower:
Mal: French- evil; veaux: French - plural of calf, or veal.
Ergo: Malveaux - evil cows
Speaking of those caught Context-Editing a Tape…
Again, it they had stuck with the truth, but noooooo. They have to manipulate everything so the other person looks bad. When what goes around comes around, the pay back can suck. Character matters!
Sarcasm? In a political blog? Just leave the kids out of it Mister. That reminds me, saw Chelsea on the cover of some rag at the drug store yesterday, pictures from her PRIVATE, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS wedding. I wonder if the rag paid for access? Naw, a Clinton grubbing for money? Couldn’t be.
I heard that program on the radio, and the commentators made it VERY clear that Keith Olbermann did NOT incite anyone to violence and that it was just a double-standard comparison.
That is all.
Rewriting history,
one jihad at a time…
http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2010/06/first-comes-saturday-then-comes-sunday.html
Nah… Media Matters would just quote everything except the /sarc tag.
Michael Rennie “Klaatu” or Keanu Reeves “Klaatu”?
Frankly I’m still ashamed of myself for using the term “tool kit”… makes it sound like I just fell out of a Tony Robbins seminar, but it was the best I could do on a groggy Saturday morning.
The upside to that is that every time they come up with something like this now, everybody, including their own side, just assumes that they’re lying.
Correction or no, Keith Olbermann should be tazered and hogtied upside down from a tree so the buzzards can easily pick at his eyeballs and entrails! I’m just kidding, I’m a kidder, I’m being sarcastic, really, I mean it!
Why worry about Keith, about 100 lunatic asylum inmates and 100 mentally challenged “inner city youths” are listening to him. He has lost well over half of his “mentally challenged inner city youths” since the colleges have sent most of their employees on vacation for the summer.
We ALL know that Media Matters is a a magnet for the lefty morons. Are we really to be surprised by the crap they pull EVERY DAMNED DAY?
What I want to know is THIS: Why hasn’t ANYONE called the massacre of EIGHT WHITE people a HATE CRIME? Am I wrong? Were any blacks called “racists” by that assh*le and THEN shot down in cold blood by the murdering bastard?
Really? I hadn’t noticed.