When Sgt. Justin Griffith’s efforts to gain formal recognition of atheists and organize the Rock Beyond Belief event reached the ears of Fox News, they naturally didn’t like it. They interviewed him and did their usual selecting editing job. The title of their story Church-Burning Video Used to Promote Atheist Event at Ft. Bragg pretty much tells you what they were trying to do.
Fortunately, Justin was savvy enough to record the interview himself and provides transcripts correcting the misleading impressions conveyed.
But this incident shows how much power the broadcasters have in the editing room to convey whatever impression they desire and it requires journalists and their editors to be scrupulous in ensuring that the edits are made only to increase clarity and brevity.
Perhaps the most notorious practitioner of deceptive selective editing to distort the message is James O’Keefe. On the Media‘s Bob Garfield interviewed O’Keefe some time ago and at the end of the broadcast, around the 10:50 mark, Garfield explains to listeners how interviews are edited and demonstrates how he could, if he wished, make O’Keefe sound as if he had said absurd things.
This shows how you should be very careful in interviews. If possible, like Griffith, make your own recordings for backup, especially if you are suspicious of the motives of the interviewer.
When I was a government bureaucrat I was occasionally interviewed by journalists. One particular reporter was notorious for quote-mining people. Once he was interviewing me and put his cassette recorder on my desk. I pulled out my cassette recorder and put it next to his. When he asked what that was about I told him that when my boss chewed me out for making statements that went against policy, I could show him that I’d never said what I was quoted as saying.
I was quoted once, correctly, in the article and the attribution was to “a senior Treasury official.”
Very Nice. You know, watching the folks at Fox News lie is like watching a 3 year old lie. They think we don’t know…