CBS 2 Manipulates Video of 4-Year-Old

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 1, 2011 3:34PM

A news story run by WBBM-TV on June 29 is receiving criticism for the way the video in the story was edited.

The story on a shooting in the Park Manor neighborhood that injured two children, ran with video of a four-year-old boy who said that he "wasn't scared of nothing" and that when he grew up, he was "gonna have me a gun." Former morning anchorman Steve Bartelstein said the footage was scary

What CBS 2 didn't run were follow-up comments from the boy in which he said he was going to have a gun because he was going to grow up to be a cop. This deliberate manipulation of the video, taking the boy's comments out of context, is a gross violation of the most basic of journalism ethics. Not to mention that the way the video was edited seemed to criminalize the boy and perpetuate negative stereotypes of men and boys of color in the media.

The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education posted the original CBS 2 story, followed by raw footage of the excised comments from the boy and comment from NAACP President Ben Jealous, raising further questions about the video, including whether WBBM had the boy's parents' permission and saying that "when you tell half the truth, you're, in effect, lying."

(Video Credit: Maynard Institute for Journalism Education)