I don’t mean to abuse the 12-Step analogy, but CNN needs some sort of treatment for its obsessive coverage of “Breaking News.” The network’s reporting of the Shirley Sharrod scandal is a classic example of overkill. By the time the weekend rolled around, CNN viewers began losing interest in Sherrod. This is unfortunate because there are facets of the story that extend beyond her heroic personal story.
Although the Sharrod debacle is largely about race and racism, the humiliation heaped on the USDA official is also about journalism. Before I take cheap shots at Fox “News,” let me point out the shortcomings of my former place of employment. CNN exploited Sherrod for more sinister reasons than taking up the banner of a wronged person. And I’m referring to something more than its hope for increasing ratings. For the people who underwrote my IRA, it was an opportunity to dump on Fox by pointing the finger of blame to the people who gave the story momentum.
The real blame, of course, falls on the shoulders of Andrew Breitbart, the right-wing rumor-monger whose fantasies are published on his Internet news sites and repeated by the lunatic fringe ad nauseam. He distributed out-of-context remarks made by in a speech to an NAACP gathering in Sherrod’s native Georgia. The African American agriculture official— daughter of a farmer murdered by white men, who were never prosecuted—told the story of how years before a poor, elderly white couple on the verge of losing their farm helped her deal with underlying racial prejudice she harbored since childhood. The Breitbart video only showed the part of her speech about Sharrod’s early attitudes toward whites.
Libel litigation is a pet peeve of mine—mainly because I had to defend myself in eight cases that I can recall. The only one settled in favor of the plaintiff was the most trivial. The Boston TV station I worked for was in the process of being sold and lawyers recommended a few thousand dollars be paid to dispose of the case. But no matter how frivolous, defending against libel is a time-consuming distraction. In Breitbart’s instance, I hope Sharrod carves a big chunk out of his derriere. Thes distribution of the video clip was clearly done maliciously without regard for truth. And he will have a hard time defending the story as being opinion, which has broader protections under libel and defamation laws.
That brings me to the subject of stupid tricks by anchors. Unfortunately, technology has not been developed to stop the lips of news anchors from flapping when they deviate from the teleprompter. In the course of CNN’s saturation coverage of Sharrod, the two most enthusiastic supporters of the Agriculture Department bureaucrat—Kyra Phillips and John Roberts—agreed that it might be time for the government to consider a crackdown on irresponsible bloggers who spread hatred.
I’m reasonably certain that Phillips and Roberts have both heard of the First Amendment. It even protects people I don’t agree with. And like everyone else, I receive an abundance of viral e-mails filled with misinformation and/or varying levels of hate. It’s sad commentary on a segment of our society, although it is sometimes entertaining to be exposed to the ignorance of people responsible for spreading Internet rumors and speculation. But what the hell? Everybody is entitled to believe what they want to believe. And I know from talking to right-wing family members and friends that my blog posts and opinions are perceived as left-wing ranting. But writing about my version of the world is an American privilege I enjoy exercising.
It is the same privilege exercised by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and other escapees from the nation’s asylums. However, the line is crossed when malicious viral video is presented as legitimate news. The Breitbart segment aired on Fox “News” in the context of legitimacy (if that is even possible on the Republican Propaganda Network). Instead, the story was a personal attack on an obscure federal official in the Obama Administration.
I doubt that Fox will lose viewers because of the gaffe. Most people watching the network don’t really care about facts. The truth only confuses them. Nonetheless, the Sherrod story further revealed the close relationship between Fox and Breitbart—a marriage that had already exposed many times before.
Since Shirley Sharrod’s office is located in close proximity to CNN’s Atlanta headquarters, it was a chance to bring her into the studios and engage in crusading journalism by defending an injustice—especially her idiotic treatment by Department of Agriculture officials who asked for her resignation based on a Fox “News” story. It doesn’t get any more stupid than believing Fox.
Anyway, I admired CNN for taking up a crusade for justice. At least until I realized that instead of restoring the kind of reporting missing from contemporary television, the network was simply using Sherrod as a way to criticize the competition.
My memoir, Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger, is available at amazon.com and independent bookstores. It offers much more than $19.99 worth of laughs. The book is an account of my illustrious (I choose the adjectives) career.
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