RTDNA Chairman Defends Racist Cartoon

American media lives in a helpless, trap of racism, depending on where you live...

(SALEM) - The RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association) has an interesting viewpoint about the Trayvon Martin killing and journalism. First of all, the RTDNA Chairman, Kevin Benz, who wrote, 'Trayvon Martin Coverage: Racism & Bad Reporting Put Media Under Fire ', represents the mainstream media; the fourth estate, you know, the folks who make the news that at least half, if not far more of the time, panders to the needs of advertisers and others who should have no say in what is or is not printed or broadcasted, or published online.

At the center of the issue is a cartoon that might be the most racist thing published in modern time. Surely the birth certificate hounds and millions of republicans in red states would cheer it, because they too are hopelessly racist; but most would agree that this type of antagonism is not journalism, it is yellow paste on parade.

This article's point is that there are always two sides to a story; that the media screwed up by reacting to the racism, and I fully disagree. I believe the worst are people who talk about "your truth and my truth"; this just angers me on behalf of good people and reminds me why I personally decided to bail out of TV several years ago to the Internet, the land of journalist freedom that drives the dishonest and despicable into tizzy fits because they can't control it.

Benz writes in defense of both the racist cartoon and the artist, a story-changing, obviously immature student who was forced into an unwitting apology that was not her initial choice, far from it- as the cartoonist who couldn't spell the murdered kid's name right, initially clinging to her guns the way Jim Crow laws stuck around well into and past the 1950's.

The very first thing I gleaned from the article by Benz, is that he was automatically disqualified from taking this approach to the story because it is about a a student at his alma mater, in his own city and state. Nothing like being fully biased when the race gate opens.

This guy has the guts to suggest that 'freedom of speech' is threatened because we didn't take the side of Zimmerman in editorials? Whoa, I am truly shocked that he wrote that. The writer can disagree but that is essentially the point Benz makes. What threatens our freedom of speech is using THE MEDIA AS A HATE CRIME DEVICE Mr. Benz, and then failing to take steps of responsibility because your college is involved, I pray I never seem so unsound in my own judgement.

He dares to state that days later Trayvon Martin's death, we learned that perhaps the young man was not as innocent as first portrayed- that is pure conjecture. We haven't learned anything than we did early on. Racists have had time to develop strategies, that is what took place. The only conjecture king is Benz.

Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps

Then he writes, "and perhaps there was a fight to the death, and perhaps race had nothing to do with it at all." Don't you love it?

Perhaps Benz and the others are making something out of nothing, I think that is the only accurate assessment. I suppose Benz is the type that would support the burglar who sues the school he was breaking into because the roof caved in. What a crock.

Time does not invent more facts for examination. This is a simple case and the point of Benz, is to portray it otherwise. Zimmerman could have been home watching sports like Martin, but he armed himself and went looking for trouble, nobody should feel guilty or bad about any of it, personal responsibility is what Zimmerman is now entitled to, his life is ruined and soiled.

At a Nazi rally, there are not multiple viewpoints, they are racists, they gather to discuss racism, they execute hate crimes, and there are not two viewpoints over it.

When a neighborhood watch wannabe cop chases a 140-pound kid down and fatally shoots him, when we know Trayvon Martin was simply walking to the store to get candy for his little brother, we don't need to torture ourselves by forcing our minds into bent corners that Benz easily occupies.

It is ridiculous, emotion is not always wrong, instinct is not always wrong. It was for Zimmerman, for he had no business following, approaching, or even paying attention to this young man who was an outstanding student and athlete, with a loving family and no debts to the world. People deserve personal space, Zimmerman chose to take Martin's.

So what is the 'other side' to this story anyway? It is that Zimmerman had already called 911 46 times this year alone? Is it that he followed Martin after a dispatcher told him not to? Vigilantism is bad enough, what do you call it when that age-old negative is applied with a trigger finger on an innocent person?

Nothing Benz says negates the larger point. What is taking place, is the simple response to the outcries of racists who would give Trayvon Martin no quarter if their lives depended on it. The sad truth is that Benz is accommodating people who have not a damned thing to say about it; I believe he is appeasing stuffy southern bigots. And this is Austin, Texas? I have been told by so many people that it is the state's coolest city, however I have my doubts.

The most dangerous thing of all, is that Benz influences all broadcast journalists as he represents a club that their bosses, news directors, belong to.

RTDNA's mission is not the news, it is news and profit, and it is the agency that could be doing a thousand things to help, but instead it becomes through its leader, a racism apologist mechanism and I don't care, it is wrong and the cartoon was wrong and Zimmerman was terribly wrong.

There is a new world of journalists emerging and they are hardcore, they don't play these games, they don't apologize for seeing things clearly.

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Anonymous April 5, 2012 9:38 pm (Pacific time)

WHY IS EVERYONE FORGETTING .. ... ahem. Excuse me. Why is everyone forgetting John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo of the Beltway Sniper Attacks? Why has that horror show been allowed to drop into the memory hole? From the Wikipedia page: Part of his testimony concerned Muhammad's complete multiphase plan. His plan consisted of three phases in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metro areas. Phase one consisted of meticulously planning, mapping, and practicing their locations around the D.C. area. This way after each shooting, they would be able to quickly leave the area on a predetermined path, and move on to the next location. Muhammad's goal in Phase One was to kill six white people a day for 30 days. Malvo went on to describe how Phase One did not go as planned due to heavy traffic and the lack of a clear shot or getaway at locations. This was not speculation. This was not theory. This was not media hype. This was court testimony. The speculation, from Chief Moose, was that it was some white guys in a white van. I don't recall Jessie or Al saying word one during the entire reign of terror perpetrated by these two mutts. No one mentions it anymore.

Anonymous April 5, 2012 11:58 am (Pacific time)

The great trick of poetic truth is to pass itself off as the deep and essential truth so that hard facts that refute it must be dismissed in the name of truth. I still believe this whole Trayvon Martin incident was at least in part orchestrated by the White House. It took nearly a month for the race baiters to even show up...typically they would be there as quick as flies on dog turds. The timing and the location..Florida...a battleground state. The facts on the case will likely cause it not to even go to trial...not like a Rodney King case. This is part of Obama’s campaign.

Editor: I can't imagine this scenario being possible.

Anonymous April 3, 2012 7:50 am (Pacific time)

This was not a child who was [unfortunately] shot. As evidence comes in, and now we are now seeing how some in the media have edited some of this evidence to completely alter how the events took place-- we now have a serious problem with trust. Has Salem-news taken the time to also look at the other racial crimes happening? The black and hispanic on white crimes, especially on our children, is in actual number count way above white on black (or hispanic) criminal acts. By the way I recall having a number of 17 year olds who managed to get into combat (before the rules changed) and they were just as deadly as those of any other age. To suggest any cartoon is racist because you don't like the content is a matter of opinion, but what is the consistency by you in this matter? Have you a documented record of berating cartoons that went after people you disliked? It's a dangerous world when we have any form of censorship, and we are seeing that happen in europe and Canada. For example, just google "censorship in Canada."Regardless how this current tragedy works out in the end, we have now witnessed the real ugly side of racist liberalism/ progressivism coupled with mob behavior. To me the biggest tragedy is twofold: 1) The media's rush to judgement, and 2) The lack of leadership starting at the Whitehouse. I really do expect that we are about to witness a massive unrest, and many people will die. Obama has no record to run on, so he will do what he has been doing the last 3 years, only more intensely, creating more divisiveness, just the opposite of what he campaigned on. This is all planned in my opinion.

Chris April 1, 2012 10:48 am (Pacific time)

I tend to disagree. Under your logic, Mr. Zimmerman is already guilty and convicted. None of us was there that night. Sure, it sounds pretty bad for Zimmerman's case. One could easily rush to judgement. And perhaps if one has never been wrong in their lifetime, that should be expected. But from reasonable people who understand that things are rarely as "black and white" as they seem, a step back and deep breath (ie. trial) is what should be expected.

Tim King: OK Chris, but you and I weren't there for 99.9%+ of the rest of the crimes committed on the face of this planet, should we conclude then that nothing we believe to be true, is true, because we weren't there?

As far as the cartoon is concerned, I agree with much of what the article contended. Political cartoons tend to push the limits and infuriate many. Should I judge from the cartoon that the student is a racist?

Tim King: Really? What does she need to do, attend a cross burning? Pardon the sarcasm, but that cartoon is purely, overtly racist in nature and I didn't need to be there to witness its creation, to know this. I fear people are forcing themselves to question the obvious, nothing less and nothing more. There are so many problems on the face of this globe, defending Zimmerman's child killing is a twisted use of time, I believe.

I think not. This was a commentary on the mainstream media's handling of the coverage immediately after the incident. And it was satirical.

Tim King: You should have seen it before the final rewrite. As this involves a child, I have no sympathy for Zimmerman. Does that make me a bad person? No, I actually believe, when the reports all more or less favored Zimmerman from the offset (not charged, no drug test, no arrest) The laws of this state are the first problem, my point of view is not a problem.

Everyone needs to tone down the rhetoric and let the investigators do their job.

Tim King: Again, the window to gather evidence closed, because the laws of Florida are structured to have allowed this to happen.

Just because a non-black shot and killed an unarmed black does not constitute racism. It may have been, but that is still to be determined. If a black criminal shot an unarmed non-black person, is it immediately a racist motivated hate crime.

Tim King: What immediately or automatically defines this, is not the matter at hand. Who is alive and who is dead; this is the question that we need not seek answers for. An armed man approached an unarmed boy and shot him to death. One party was wholly innocent, one had a gun and was looking for trouble. I suppose people can convince themselves of any possibility, but what is clear is clear. A child would not even be responsible if he his his tracking assailant. I said early on I hope Martin hit Zimmerman, he was an assailant following a child after he was told to back off by dispatch. You have your facts.

Could be or perhaps the motivation was to steal some money and the target that was available was an unarmed native American. No rush to judgement should be made about this case or the political cartoonist. Unless, of course, you have always been right in your life about everything you have done and said. If this description fits you, you may want to reevaluate what is right and wrong.

Tim King: No, I don't think so, thanks for your comment.

Notice March 31, 2012 8:31 pm (Pacific time)

We don't have the dots all connected, but there are agencies that are paying their members to work as right wing trolls, demand ID or flush these sinister political operatives with the poop, word to the wise.

Zimmerman's a Child Killer March 31, 2012 8:30 pm (Pacific time)

Zimmerman is a marauding murderer who kills kids. A child killer. Deny it, it don't matter, he is a child killer charged or not. Live with dat MF. See you in Hell

Anonymous March 31, 2012 6:45 pm (Pacific time)

Tim King: "but most would agree that this type of antagonism is not journalism, it is yellow paste on parade." That totally nails it, this is crap paste mixed with gun powder, like when cartoonists intentionally rile Muslims by insulting what is precious to them, and then they hold they hands up and say, 'what what?' and it is true BS. Of course when the right wing losers put out their own garbage that's okay. Mr. King you simply have it figured out with regard to Zimmerman. He did NOT lawfully use self-defense, Tim, you simply nail it, like I said, my hat's off to you again sir..

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RTDNA Chairman Defends Racist Cartoon

Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps

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