George Zimmerman sues NBC and reporters

[Phyphor]

ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman sued NBC on Thursday, claiming he was defamed when the network edited his 911 call to police after the shooting of Trayvon Martin to make it sound like he was racist.

The former neighborhood watch volunteer filed the lawsuit seeking an undisclosed amount of money in Seminole County, outside Orlando. Also named in the complaint were three reporters covering the story for NBC or an NBC-owned television station.

The complaint said the airing of the edited call has inflicted emotional distress on Zimmerman, making him fear for his life and causing him to suffer nausea, insomnia and anxiety.

The lawsuit claims NBC edited his phone call to a dispatcher in February. In the call, Zimmerman describes following Martin in the gated community where he lived, just moments before he fatally shot the 17-year-old teen during a confrontation.

"NBC saw the death of Trayvon Martin not as a tragedy but as an opportunity to increase ratings, and so set about to create a myth that George Zimmerman was a racist and predatory villain," the lawsuit claims.

NBC spokeswoman Kathy Kelly-Brown said the network strongly disagreed with the accusations made in the complaint.

"There was no intent to portray Mr. Zimmerman unfairly," she said. "We intend to vigorously defend our position in court."

Three employees of the network or its Miami affiliate lost their jobs because of the changes.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder but has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense under Florida's "stand your ground law."

The call viewers heard was trimmed to suggest that Zimmerman volunteered to police, with no prompting, that Martin was black: "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black."

But the portion of the tape that was deleted had the 911 dispatcher asking Zimmerman if the person who had raised his suspicion was "black, white or Hispanic," to which Zimmerman responded, "He looks black."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50112457#.UMFvXWdP9WU

[makattak]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50112457#.UMFvXWdP9WU

And NBC compounds negligent reporting with more negligent reporting.

He's NOT citing stand your ground.  He's claiming slef-defense. SYG does not apply when retreat is impossible.

[Boomhauer]

And NBC compounds negligent reporting with more negligent reporting.

He's NOT citing stand your ground.  He's claiming slef-defense. SYG does not apply when retreat is impossible.

Oh come on now we all know that SYG laws make it legal to gun down innocent children...double points if they are minorities.

[gunsmith]

I was hoping Zimmerman would be found innocent after Mitt won the election.
Now they're gonna keeping him around to distract from whatever scandal Obama needs to avoid.

[lupinus]

Very good.

[De Selby]

Good luck with that - I'd be seeking costs if I were the network's lawyer. 

[Hawkmoon]

Good luck with that - I'd be seeking costs if I were the network's lawyer. 

Given just the edited 9-1-1 phone call, I think if I were the network's tile crawler I'd be telling the CFO to figure out how much he can afford to offer up to get the case out of court.

[lupinus]

Good luck with that - I'd be seeking costs if I were the network's lawyer. 

Deliberately editing to slander someone with a pending court case? Good luck with that.

[Jamisjockey]

Good luck with that - I'd be seeking costs if I were the network's lawyer.  

NBC fired the jackwagons that edited the audio....and you don't think he has a case?  

[AJ Dual]

I was hoping Zimmerman would be found innocent after Mitt won the election.
Now they're gonna keeping him around to distract from whatever scandal Obama needs to avoid.

Honestly, I think it's the other way around. Romney winning would have meant trying to convict Zimmerman, or at least dragging it out as long as possible to avoid protest/riots would have been an even bigger priority for them.

[De Selby]

NBC fired the jackwagons that edited the audio....and you don't think he has a case?  

The standard for these cases is so high that it'd be very easy to have fire-able conduct which doesn't give you a case.  For obvious reasons, it's nearly impossible to punish newspapers for biased reporting.

[ArfinGreebly]

It's not "biased reporting," it's falsification of information calculated to defame.  Its libel.

They didn't "imply" he was racist, they doctored the audio to falsely "show" he was racist.

Screw "bias."  That's "fraud" on its best day.

[lupinus]

It's not "biased reporting," it's falsification of information calculated to defame.  Its libel.

They didn't "imply" he was racist, they doctored the audio to falsely "show" he was racist.

Screw "bias."  That's "fraud" on its best day.

^this is my thought as well.

[Jamisjockey]

The standard for these cases is so high that it'd be very easy to have fire-able conduct which doesn't give you a case.  For obvious reasons, it's nearly impossible to punish newspapers for biased reporting.

Biased and intentionally false are two different things.  You're so obsessed with seeing GZ hang that you're not seeing this.

[Strings]

De Selby expounding while not seeing the whole picture?

This is my shocked face

[Boomhauer]

Mass murderers have gotten more favorable reporting from the media while Zimmerman was quickly tried, judged guilty, and sentenced by the media who set out to deliberately interfere with the legal proceedings.

[De Selby]

Biased and intentionally false are two different things.  You're so obsessed with seeing GZ hang that you're not seeing this.

You know, what got me posting on this case wasn't GZ, it was the self defense angle - getting out of your car with a gun and following somebody who runs away from you is a bad idea if you want to stay free.  I'm still a bit surprised that anyone would find that to be a controversial position.

In this thread, I saw a media law claim, and media law is something I happen to know a bit about - suing the newspaper for items it reported on a public controversy essentially never wins.  FL has made lots of legal headlines over precisely this topic.

This suit almost certainly would have been a false light claim, had that entire cause of action not been eliminated in FL not too long ago.  IIRC (it's been a few years), the FL Supreme Court tossed a case by a guy who'd been accused of murdering his own wife in the papers.

So yeah,  I'm not seeing it, not because the editing wasn't bad, but because the law does not favor lawsuits against the press.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

the only real way to judge is it the lawyers doing it by the hour or 4 piece of the action. and there's always the punishment aspect reporters will have to defend themselves hit him in the wallet. and will make them much less employable.

[geronimotwo]

  You're so obsessed with seeing GZ hang that you're not seeing this.

reading the writing on the wall does not mean that you want it to be there.