According to Variety, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Fox affiliate WBFF-TV Baltimore carried a report on Sunday that made it sound as if a group of protestors at the Dec. 13 Justice for All march in Washington had chanted “Kill a cop.” The actual chant was “We won’t stop. We can’t stop ‘til killer cops are in cell blocks.”
A Baltimore woman, Tawanda Jones, led the chant, and her complaints about the WBFF report led news anchor Jeff Barnd to issue an on-air apology. Jones appeared on the station’s 5 p.m. newscast Monday in a live interview to discuss the situation.
“We here at Fox45 work hard every day to earn your trust and bring you fair and comprehensive news from around the country. Although last night's report reflected an honest misunderstanding of what the protesters were saying, we apologize for the error. We have deleted the story on our webpage and we offered to have Ms. Jones on Fox45 News at 5:00 tonight for a live interview. We had a constructive conversation with her earlier today and she has accepted our invitation and will join us for a live interview at 5:30.”WBFF reps have not elaborated on how the edit made it on to the air.
Based on personal first hand knowledge, breaches of ethics are not uncommon at stations owned by this company. This type of inexcuseable and unethical behavior is the result of a mindset among today's mainstream media no matter the political persuasion. I repeat what I have long said. The media has failed to police itself despite the smoke screen by the RTNDA and other media fraternal organizations, the media answers to no one and hides behind the First Amendment and Shield Laws when its advantageous. The public can help change that by not listening to or watching the violators and not patronize their sponsors.
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