US official may sue rightwing blogger
Shirley Sherrod threatens action against Andrew Breitbart over edited video that led to race row.
In an amazing article from Guardian UK, a blogger BigGovernment.com, posts edited video from an unnamed source, which seems to indicate that Shirley Sherrod, a black woman and US federal head of rural development for the agriculture department in Georgia at the White House, was accused of making racist comments against white farmers. She was fired by the White House, and then the full video was listened to by the Powers-That-Be and they realized their mistake. Her speech had contained a parable that was edited by someone, the blogger claims 'not me', that was misinterpreted. President Obama apologized.
Lessons learned-the takeaway message...
- In this day and age of blogging, we must be accountable. I would sue him...
- Perhaps the White House should be given a course on choosing reliable sources,
- in checking 3 sources (which is what I always counselled my students when doing research),
- and the corruption of power of some who make choices.
  | Video: USDA official resigns amid racism claims 2 days ago www.msnbc.msn.com |
At least the White House corrected the mistake. Interesting editorial blogs (by 'real' journalists) who wonder at the people behind this story. This reminds me of the chaos around the distortion of the truth about Canadian medicare, twisted to suit extreme, white wing Americans trying to fight President Obama's universal health care. At the time, many Americans were asking me, through my Ontario Seniors' Health Care blog, for the truth around our system. I had spotted some bloggers who were citing private health information (illegal in Canada) about a particular patient, which was reprinted verbatim in many blogs. I follow Ontario health news particularly! Lies and gossip about senior health care
I am always amazed with the information people pass on to one another!
Canadian Health Care System - part I
I was asked to write about our system in Canada, as there is much misinformation in American news about our weird ways. They even videotaped a woman who was distorting her truth about her Canadian health care experiences. What criminal action this is, to bash away at our health care. Where does truth lie? Somewhere in the middle. Read with a critical mind. Reflect and research. All may not be as it seems.
3 comments:
It is ironic that in this age of information that we have more disinformation than ever before. Hardly any of my acquaintances subscribe to the local newspaper because it is "liberal." They get their news from goofy facebook posts and accept it verbatim. If you point out that politifacts and snopes have documented the untruth of it, they just say those are "liberal" sites.
The smarter ones just smirk and say they know its not true but they pass it on because they hate our current President and will do anything to trash him.
I read many facebook posts about how Canadians are streaming across the border desperately trying to get health care in the country with "the greatest health care system the world has ever seen."
Sherrod case was dumb but not atypical these days. As long as the goof who edited the video did not 'alter' the actual words said by Sherrod then there is no defamation. Yes I GET IT, that the whole story was different due to an ommission of facts and subsequent discussion. Though a low-level public figure, this woman IS ONE, and American law gives a wide berth to freedom of speech issues, over public dessent, satire, and sadly yes, just plain meaness to these folks.
Sherrod probably has MORE chance of a successful outcome to a lawsuit claiming 'wrongful termination' for being thrown under the bus by her bosses in the Federal Government. However, I believe she 'RESIGNED' so even that legal angle may have been compromised.
Frustrating I know, and yes, this whole thing was unfair. However, everybody should just 'reset' and hopefully learn something about 'knee-jerk' politics and un-sourced news reporting. People can pass around ANYTHING they want on the internet, but Who on earth honestly should be using You Tube and Wikipedia as legitimate sources for news without corroboration? My two cents --- W.C.C.
Blogs can be read in many ways, they can be edited to read as the editor wants them to be read.
You are right, there ought to be protection but how is that possible with millions of new posts entering cyberspace daily.
It is hard enough to speak clearly enough in your blog to avoid offence at the best of times. That is the one thing I find difficult about blogging, to hit exactly the right tone for people from different cultures and nations, even if we speak the same language.
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