Van Jones says he knows the feeling of being caught up in the type of media swirl that cost Shirley Sherrod her joband nearly destroyed her reputation.
Jones resigned as the White House Green Jobs Czar last year, after he, too, was attacked by the conservative media for allegedly signing a petition that blamed the U.S. government for 9/11. Then came the report of him using vulgarity to describe a Republican and his past as a radical in California.
Jones, in a New York Times op-ed, says that he never signed the petition and the website organizers used his name without permission; however, in the media scrum that followed, none of that information came out. With the downsizing of the U.S. media, stories aren't properly vetted and little tidbits are overblown into scandals because its cheaper than real reporting.
Jones writes:
Our situations aren't exactly the same. Ms. Sherrod's comments, in which she, a black woman, appeared to admit to racial discrimination against a white couple, were taken far out of context, while I truly did use a vulgarity.
But the way we were treated is strikingly similar, and it reveals a lot about the venal nature of Washington politics in the Internet era. In my case, the media rushed to judgment so quickly that I was never able to make clear that the group put my name on its Web site without my permission. The group finally admitted that it never had my signature, but by then it was too late.
The imperative to immediately and constantly churn out news on even the most minor bit of controversy leads news organizations, and partisans posing as news organizations, to cross the line from responsible reporting to dangerous rumor-mongering. This is exactly what happened to Ms. Sherrod. Andrew Breitbart, a prominent Internet conservative, promoted a misleadingly edited video of her speech; within hours, news outlets of all stripes were promoting it as truth.
Jones is right. If anyone had bothered to review the original material and not rely on the edited clip provided of Sherrod, they would have seen that the spin put on the material was patently false. Instead, Fox News went all out with the "news" and the Obama Administration buckled and quickly fired Sherrod.
It's frightening that this story could go national without being properly vetted. Unfortunately, news is becoming more and more slanted. Outlets like Fox News, which should be clearly branded as opinion, declare that they are fair and balanced. Other networks are now trying to do the same thing from a more liberal perspective.
The "gotcha" news culture is also a problem. The Sherrod story seems like a desperate search for a "gotcha" story. Sherrod was not a high-ranking administrator and her comments were not new.
Jones writes:
We have to understand that no one can be defined by a single photograph, open-mike gaffe or sound bite. Not even our greatest leaders could have survived if they had to be taken to task for every poorly conceived utterance or youthful demonstration of immature political views. When it comes to politics in the age of Facebook, the killer app to stop the "gotcha" bullies won't be a technological one - it will be a wiser, more forgiving culture.
Unfortunately, it seems like we are a long way from that.
14-July-10 - An Iowa Tea Party group recently caused an uproar by creating a billboard that compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.
14-July-10 - An Iowa Tea Party group recently caused an uproar by creating a billboard that compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.
14-July-10 - Cad-about-town Tiki Barber has been hit with a $1-million lawsuit by a fitness company that has rendered him "worthless overnight" as its spokesperson, because he cheated on his pregnant wife.
14-July-10 - Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly (pictured) and New York Post columnist Kirsten Powers went at it recently regarding charges from a former Justice Department lawyer who claims that civil rights cases in which whites are the victims are ignored.
13-July-10 - A criminal investigation should be opened for two officers who Tasered and pepper-sprayed a 57-year-old Georgia woman who called police to report a prowler.
13-July-10 - Aimee L. Sword, 36, pled guilty to having sex with the biological son she gave up for adoption, whom she later tracked down on the Internet via Facebook.
13-July-10 - The Gay-Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has gone hard against ABC and "The View" about recent comments made by host Sherri Shepherd and guest host D.L. Hughley.
08-July-10 - In many ways, Gary Coleman, Maia Campbell and Michael Jackson represent a major tragedy of the black community: undiagnosed and untreated mental health issues, especially clinical depression, in all its variations. It would be a waste to not learn lessons from these stars, so that we can help so many others.
08-July-10 - Johannes Mehserle, a former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer (pictured), has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the case of Oscar Grant, whom he shot and killed on a train station platform in Oakland, Calif., on New Year's Day 2009.
07-July-10 - According to Peace FM Online, "The Juice," O.J. Simpson, is tying the knot behind bars. The once-upon-a-time gridiron great is all set to marry a lady love, whom he has never even met face to face.
02-July-10 - The real hypocrites oath will forever be linked to University of Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans, who got busted for drunk driving after cutting an anti-drunk-driving public service announcement for the university
Van Jones says he knows the feeling of being caught up in the type of media swirl that cost Shirley Sherrod her job and nearly destroyed her reputation.