NBC's edited version of the call, MyNews13 reports, trimmed the dialog so that Zimmerman is saying simply: "This guy looks like he's up to no good ... He looks black."
NBC News fired at least two employees involved in the editing and publicly apologized, the Sentinel notes.
I don't see what the problem is here.
They screwed up, they fired the employees who did this.
He doesn't deserve jack shit.
Zimmerman is a public figure, Levine said, and could not prove that he was the victim of "actual malice",
This quote from the NBC attorney is nuts:
I really hope the judge wasn't persuaded by that, because the only reason Zimmerman is a "public figure" is because of the media portrayal (i.e. because the defamation was successful).
Honestly, this is one of those cases where the journalist that did the editing should be liable for whatever "damages" there were, not NBC, and honestly, losing their job should be punishment enough.
This quote from the NBC attorney is nuts:
I really hope the judge wasn't persuaded by that, because the only reason Zimmerman is a "public figure" is because of the media portrayal (i.e. because the defamation was successful).
Honestly, this is one of those cases where the journalist that did the editing should be liable for whatever "damages" there were, not NBC, and honestly, losing their job should be punishment enough.
Do you consider law enforcement officers as being "public figures"?
That's completely irrelevant as to whether Zimmerman is a public figure.
Zimmerman was a public figure almost immediately because of the trial, not due to NBC's statements. I think anyone trying to prove Zimmerman wasn't a public figure at the time of NBC's statements is going to have a very tough hill to climb.
That's a stretch. Plus I thought you all declared he was self appointed and no one else was involved.Even before the trial, he was a public figure. He was an active member of a citizen on patrol group for his neighborhood. He is not law enforcement, but he is out in the public's view to ensure the public is kept as safe as possible.
Outrage and injustice not found.
Lets move on please.
That's completely irrelevant as to whether Zimmerman is a public figure.
Ruling that a person in an involuntary public figure when the alleged defamatory statements were a cause of making the person such is begging the question. It basically creates the following situation:
If I defame you a little bit, I'm liable if I was negligent; if I defame you so successfully that the entire nation takes notice, then you have to prove I did it with actual malice.
Zimmerman was a public figure almost immediately because of the trial, not due to NBC's statements.
Even before the trial, he was a public figure. He was an active member of a citizen on patrol group for his neighborhood.
That's a stretch. Plus I thought you all declared he was self appointed and no one else was involved.
Which is it?
He was a public figure because of the media attention about the shooting. Part of that media attention was NBC's statement, which occurred about 1 month after the shooting. It wasn't a "looking back" at the Trayvon Martin shooting story, it was a current events story. The actual malice requirement shouldn't apply to statements that are concurrent with, related to, and contribute toward turning someone into a public figure.
NBC aired these claims starting on March 19th, 2012. As of that time there had already been numerous national news stories about the shooting in both print and nightly news media. I think if you're one of the lead stories on ABC nightly news, you're probably a public figure.
This quote from the NBC attorney is nuts:
I really hope the judge wasn't persuaded by that, because the only reason Zimmerman is a "public figure" is because of the media portrayal (i.e. because the defamation was successful).
Honestly, this is one of those cases where the journalist that did the editing should be liable for whatever "damages" there were, not NBC, and honestly, losing their job should be punishment enough.
I don't see what the problem is here.
They screwed up, they fired the employees who did this.
He doesn't deserve jack shit.
This quote from the NBC attorney is nuts:
I really hope the judge wasn't persuaded by that, because the only reason Zimmerman is a "public figure" is because of the media portrayal (i.e. because the defamation was successful).
Honestly, this is one of those cases where the journalist that did the editing should be liable for whatever "damages" there were, not NBC, and honestly, losing their job should be punishment enough.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actual_maliceActual malice in United States law is a condition required to establish libel against public officials or public figures and is defined as "knowledge that the information was false" or that it was published "with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Reckless disregard does not encompass mere neglect in following professional standards of fact checking.
Yeah... opps, sorry our deception sent a lynch mob after you.
Nope.
It is quite relevant.
He was an active member of a citizen on patrol group for his neighborhood. He is not law enforcement, but he is out in the public's view to ensure the public is kept as safe as possible.
He is a public figure.
This is just more nonsense from this killer. Even with the editing, his other comments clearly gave the impression part of his motivation was based on race. So its not like NBC posted anything that was not actually spoken by him. Editing comments is and has been a part of news broadcasting forever. But you have to ask the question even if you believe NBC is guilty, what is he really entitled to? Not much of anything to be honest. His life being destroyed is from the confrontation and his actions played a major part in the situation. He should have given all this a thought before he had a confrontation with someone we now know for a fact wasn't doing anything wrong.