CNN was caught red-handed editing a report it aired concerning the recent violence that ensued in Milwaukee after 23-year-old Sylville Smith was killed fleeing from police.
During a segment titled “Residents Try to Heal,” CNN deceptively edited a clip of Sherelle Smith — sister to Sylville Smith — and gave viewers the impression she was calling for peace, not violence.
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“Don’t bring the violence here and the ignorance here,” Smith is heard saying during CNN’s version.
An unedited video of speech began to circulate online, however, revealing the entire content of Smith’s speech and the vast difference in what she actually said as compared to CNN’s version.
In the unedition version, Smith was recorded saying the following to the rioters:
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“Burnin down s–t ain’t going to help nothin! Y’all burnin’ down s–t we need in our community. Take that s–t to the suburbs. Burn that s–t down! We need our s–t! We need our weaves. I don’t wear it. But we need it.”
What CNN reported as a call for “peace” was instead a call for riots to take place in more affluent neighborhoods so the inner-city community wouldn’t get destroyed.
Twitter users spread clips of a side-to-side comparison to show how CNN chose to ignore the hateful comments and only paint Smith in a positive light. The news network was slammed for its apparent bias by multiple people online.
‘@CNN caught selectively editing message to protesters from the sister of #Milwaukee police shooting victim https://t.co/qXedSbQIY5
— Jon Street (@JonStreet) August 16, 2016
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@JonStreet @ChooseToBFree @CNN @theblaze it’s a new Era – the new slogan “All the news that fits the narrative” kinda catchy?
— Enough Already (@LoochC) August 16, 2016
@JonStreet @djdoobs @CNN Advancing the liberal narrative. Its’s what they do.
— Jim S (@BurghFan99) August 17, 2016
With knowledge of the incident spreading quickly — thanks to social media — CNN anchor Carol Costello made an on-air apology Wednesday.
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“I regret the second part of that statement was not included,” she said before cutting to commercial break.
CNN also posted a tweet Wednesday that didn’t use words such as “apology” or “regret,” but stated the editing was “unintentional.”
We shorthanded sister’s quote. Unintentionally gave the impression she was calling for peace everywhere. Correction: https://t.co/CUroBoxj60
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) August 16, 2016
Needless to say, not everyone was buying the network’s version of what happened with the edit.
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Wha? @AnaCabrera shorthanded? Is that some new methodology taught in J-school? Must be new.
— John C. Dvorak (@THErealDVORAK) August 17, 2016
@OnMessageForHer I found her call for peace very moving except for that rather unfortunate “Now let’s get out there and kill whitey!” part.
— The Quipster (@parodykeet) August 16, 2016
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