Is it inherently racist to report the news ? by AURaptor

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Is it inherently racist to report the news ?

POSTED BY: AURAPTOR
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 05:31
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Monday, September 26, 2011 3:37 AM

America loves a winner!

Seems so.

Obama gave a firey speech to the Congressional Black Caucus, Saturday night. In it, he said, among other things....

Quote:
"I expect all of you to march with me and press on. Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do, CBC, "

That's how the ' official' text of his speech reads, if you bother to read from their release.

Only, that's not what he REALLY said. The speech, heavy on references to civil rights marches and delivered with a sermon-style, southern affect of dropped 'g's -- as in "complainin'," drew rousing applause and support from the audience.

I for one don't see what the big deal is, with droppin' one's g's. Sometimes I do it, but mostly I don't. Kinda a southern thing, on my part. Others see it as a 'black' thing , or a 'rural' thing, or even a 'low class' thing. What ever.

But here's the kicker. Some have reported the President's ACTUAL words, as he said them. And that's caused a ruffling of some feathers, for some.

Quote:

The Associated Press (AP) covered President Obama’s speech to the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday night, printing a transcript of what the president said. However, an MSNBC analyst now claims that the manner in which the AP covered the speech was racist.

The AP did not print the words as written for the president, instead choosing to transcribe the speech with what might be considered a bit more accuracy. For example, the teleprompter read, “Stop complaining.“ But the president said ”Stop complainin’.” And that is how the AP reported it.

The issue was discussed on the new Chris Hayes program on MSNBC this morning. Standing on opposite sides of the topic were Karen Hunter, Journalism Professor/MSNBC Analyst, and John McWhorter, Contributing Editor at New Republic/Columbia University lecturer.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/is-the-ap-racist-for-dropping-the-gs-i
n-transcribing-obamas-speech/

IS the AP 'racist' for reporting what the President actually said ?

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Monday, September 26, 2011 4:09 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Watching the video, I thought his delivery was probably more effective than any I've seen before. He was speaking to his particular audience, and using idiom and construction appropriate to the history of the Civil Rights movement. I'm sure that if he was speaking to, say, a Harvard alumni group, his delivery would be somewhat different. Most everyone adjusts their language somewhat when speaking to different folks.

As to accusations that AP is racist for printing his speech as actually given, rather than as written on the prompter, That's just someone trying to make an issue where none exists.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Monday, September 26, 2011 4:15 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

As I recall, both AlGore and Hillary morphed their speaking cadence into a notably more black dialect, when the need arose.

And they're about as lily white as they come.

I wonder what those pointing the finger at the AP now were thinking about that, when it took place.

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Monday, September 26, 2011 4:19 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Hey, the Geez watched a video of this. Did the Prez use any sentence fragments?

No, it is not racist to report what the President ACTUALLY said, versus what was in his official, prepared text. What actually came out of his mouth affects the tone, character, and implications of the event, and changes the emotional response of the audience.

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Monday, September 26, 2011 6:56 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
Hey, the Geez watched a video of this. Did the Prez use any sentence fragments?

Watch the clip. It only runs about a minute.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Monday, September 26, 2011 7:37 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I agree with NewOld. Intersting to me, given quoting from speeches is often the REVERSE, in other words printing what the person got from the teleprompter, rather than actually listening to the speech and giving it the inflections used.

I have no problem with what he said or how he said it, and I think this is a tempest in a tea pot, at the very least.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Monday, September 26, 2011 10:50 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Aside from the kerfuffle of whether or not reporting of this one way or the other is 'racist', ( which I agree, is pretty damn silly ) look what Obama is saying to the CBC.

Stop your bitchin', and get on board. You know you're not gonna vote for anyone else, so suck it up and start supporting me!

That's what I took from it. And as Maxine Waters even said, she's not sure who the President is talking to either.

Quote:
WASHINGTON - Rep. Maxine Waters said she's not sure who President Barack Obama was talking to when he told Black Americans to quit complaining and follow him into the battle for jobs and opportunity.

The California Democrat, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she found the president's language "a bit curious." She said Obama didn't address Hispanics in such a blunt manner and would never use that language in a speech to a gathering of gays or Jews.

Interviewed Monday on CBS' "Early Show," Waters said Black Americans fully support Obama and are working to promote his agenda. She said African-Americans want voters to be enthusiastic about Obama in 2012.

In Saturday's fiery speech to the caucus, Obama told Blacks to "put on your marching shoes" and "stop grumbling.' "

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/09/26/20110926obama-speech
-maxine-waters-reaction.html#ixzz1Z5saEpGl

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Monday, September 26, 2011 2:36 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

To write with dialect/accent or not to. I think writing with an accent just makes it more confusing for people readin it, but if this were something like a story it would make sense. But its a speech so if I were transcribing it I would write the words spelled regular, but I would include idiom.

And yes, many speakers choose to alter their speech patterns so the people listening might identify with them more. Whether this is necessary or not is another question, because obviously the black caucus can understand him either way.

If I were giving a speech and someone transcribed it taking accent into account I'd probably tell them that that is silly, that people will be able to read it better if they write it regular.

So yeah, writing it with an accent is dumb. This isn't a novel, its a speech.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Tuesday, September 27, 2011 2:40 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

The ideal reporting scenario would be to report both-- the pre-released intended speech, then the actual speech as given, taking into account any changes, variations or accent, then analyzing and explaining the differences. It would also be good to offer the speaker's after speech spin, the " what I meant to say was ," to let him off the hook for whatever slip=ups he might have made in the moment. That would, however, compromise the journalist by making him sympathetic to the speaker.

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Tuesday, September 27, 2011 5:06 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Hee, hee, hee; cute, NewOld.

That's about as "important" as this whole thread.

What I found more interesting in how it was reported was the emphasis the media put on how his remark about "stop complaining", like that was the most important part of the speech (sometimes ALL they reported):

Quote:
In a fiery summons to an important voting block, President Barack Obama told blacks on Saturday to quit crying and complaining and “put on your marching shoes” to follow him into battle for jobs and opportunity.

And though he didn’t say it directly, for a second term, too.
.....
How’s that hopey changey stuff working out for ya? Well, stop crying and complaining, Black people, because Obama….well, says so. http://rightwingnews.com/barack-obama/obama-to-cbc-quit-crying-and-com
plaining/ one (from the AP) is repeated over for a couple of PAGES when I ran a search on it, and is the beginning of every article. Clips on Maddow showed Face the Nation, Yahoo News, and of course several times FauxNews, focusing on his remark about whining. It seems to be the lead story regarding his speech. Ain't the media great?

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Tuesday, September 27, 2011 5:31 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Isn't ' puttin' on your marchin shoes' and promoting folks to protest simply a different form of complaining ?

Seems all Obama is saying is " stop bitching about me, we have some divisive activity to stir up, and I need to get re-elected !"

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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