Race and the news
I'll admit I was a bit surprised when WNEP aired the word "nigger" on tonight's 6 p.m. newscast. The slur was uttered in Bob Reynolds' football riot story by a black student (left) who claims the police response was racially motivated. Personally, I thought it was OK to leave the slur in, given the context of the story. But I'm sure this will only fan the controversy over what happened even further.WNEP will likely take heat for using "nigger" in the story, even though there was a warning beforehand. But I doubt it will be noticed, since people are still complaining about Joe Snedeker's on-air jab against Kim Supon.
My cynical side does remind me we're in sweeps mode. Even if this is a sweeps story, it's very tame compared to the stunts being pulled by stations in other markets.
posted by Howard Beale at 8:07 PM
4 Comments:
It's called reporting. This is what this woman saw/believes: according to her. Good call 'NEP.
Good call by the ND at 16 and others on this one. If it is true, these police officers have no business remaining on the force. While I am sure some people will be offended by the station airing the word, think of the bigger offense that may have been committed by the police using such language.
I didn't catch any packages from WBRE or WYOU on the story. How did they handle the racial slurs?
>>>If it is true, these police officers have no business remaining on the force.<<<
Let's be careful and remember the GAR incident of a few years ago. A student (or students) accused a teacher of making racial slurs, it was all over the place and --after the dust settled and the teacher's reputation was about to be ruined-- the students were shown to have lied.
We need to tread lightly with accusations and be ready, not only to listen closely to those on the other side, but to make accusers prove their charges. I say this for all issues, not just racial.
As to the language used here, it is an essential part of the story.
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