That crime reporter was no match for Lawrence O'Donnell

[grasswire]

He accused her of editorializing -- of stating things as fact without attribution or source. He went after her again and again and again. He directly asked her if the PD leaked the MJ story to her. She disagreed with his assertions, but it was pretty clear that she might have wished she had walked out before the interview, too.

I hope someone will post the video.

[jaysunb]

1. it was a great moment for truth and fairness. n/t

[lonestarnot]

2. Does she werk fer faux nitwerk?

[grasswire]

4. the Orlando Sentinel n/t

[lonestarnot]

5. Is that a rightie rag for wiping one's ass?

[csziggy]

6. It's the main newspaper in a very red area

I don't read it often enough to know it's slant, but I would imagine it's pretty far right to keep their readers happy.

I read her story, it was very sloppy journalism. The main thing O'Donnell was pounding her about was valid. The story consistently stated things as fact that cannot be proven by any objective means. Few of the claims were attributed. The entire article was a hit piece on Trayvon Martin and completely biased in favor of George Zimmerman.

If that is the kind of writing the Orlando Sentinel publishes, no wonder the population in that area has a skewed view of the world!

[lonestarnot]

7. Yeah it's no wonder at all. Just like the AZ Repulsive.

[peace frog]

14. I've read the paper for 23 years

We Central Floridians don't call it the "Orlando Slantinel" for nothing.
It's a RW rag with a so-thin-it's-transparent cover of objectivity.

[csziggy]

15. Thanks - I haven't lived downstate for 40 years

I grew up in Bartow. When I was a kid, Orlando wasn't much, pre-Disney. Our TV and newspapers came from Tampa so I grew up reading the Tampa Tribune and Lakeland Ledger. I've never read much of the Sentinel, mostly articles online on specific subjects.

But given the area, I suspected it was slanted.

[peace frog]

17. We've drifted northward as well

Grew up in South Florida and have moved upstate over the years.
We keep trying to escape the crazy but it keeps following us.

[gkhouston]

26. It's the main newspaper in an area whose economy depends on tourism.

Who's going to want to vacation in Orlando if someone might shoot them for no reason... and get away with it?

[csziggy]

29. Of course, now the entire state has to live with the repercussions of the SYG law

I wonder how much that will cost our economy?

[Quixote1818]

3. If I ever got into trouble I would want O'Donnell on my side. nt

[Iggo]

27. Fuckin A right.

[Quixote1818]

8. Video at this link

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-last-word/46863458#46863458

[uponit7771]

23. +1

[arthritisR_US]

9. I think he was far too tough on her. That

poor lady is stuck in a dead end job that she's just trying to make the best of. Journalism isn't her cup of tea. She desires more than anything to be writing for The Young and the Restless and so has to settle for writing for the Sentinel Rag. If she were writing for her dream soap her piece would be a work of art and those pesky questions from Lawrence a moot point. So there she sits, a piece of shit "journalist"

[The Midway Rebel]

10. That was a thing of beauty.

I love to watch RW dirtbags squirm.

[grasswire]

12. her mouth was turning down so much I wondered if she had a stroke

she tried to maintain a sort of lofty scowl. Lawrence nearly wiped it off her face.

[Paul Johnson]

11. For More Information on What Lawrence O'Donnell was Complaining About

See the Forum entry "Did Orlando Sentinal Change the Story" that is close by this thread in the General Discussion section.

[grasswire]

13. here's a link to that thread

yes the sentinel did change the story. Thanks for that link.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002476248#post8

[bluedigger]

16. I thought Lawrence was a bit of a jackass, actually.

He made his assertion and then cut off her response three times in a row. Every time, all she said was "I disagree...", and he started talking over her before she could make her case. It was rude, and I couldn't believe she let him get away with it. She wasn't much, I'll agree, but it was hardly a display of masterful inquisition on O'Donnell's part - he just browbeat her with righteous indignation.

[KharmaTrain]

18. He Gave Her Rope...But Didn't Hang Her...

Lawrence hit big when he quoted her lines back at her and then accused her of fabricating the story rather than let her explain where she got that quote from. It looked like she was ready to discuss that but Lawrence kept hammering on the quote. I was hoping she'd say where she got that quote from...was it from Zimmerman or his lawyer or the police? That would be revealing as to who was at the root of this.

As was posted earlier, this lady appears to be a crime reporter...her beat is generally reading and reciting the police blotter and not digging much further. She didn't make those lines up on her own...it was fed to her to try to deflect attention from Zimmerman onto Martin. The real story would have been who was her source...that's where Lawrence could have had a real story...

[A Simple Game]

19. You're right, Lawrence doesn't have enough patience and maybe even

respect for other people to be really good at his job. He is just a left wing O'reilly. I can't take much of him at one time.

This woman was obviously out of her league, he should have been able to get much more out of her, but he didn't.

[groundloop]

20. Lawrence was WRONG on this, and acted like a jackass to boot

I watched that segment where Lawrence claimed the reporter (Rene Stutzman) failed to indicate that what she wrote was Zimmermans' side of the story. Then I found the article online where the first sentence of the second paragraph states that "This is the account that Zimmerman gave police......". Now truth be told, I don't think she did a particularly good job of writing that article, but she at least came right out and said that what she wrote was take from Zimmerman's account. I think Lawrence owes her a huge apology, and I hate when we (liberals) treat people like that because it takes away from our credibility.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-26/news/os-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-account-20120326_1_miami-schools-punch-unarmed-black-teenager

[grasswire]

21. you are wrong -- the Sentinel changed the story!

At some point, the newspaper republished the story in an altered version. The version he was quoting from is not the version you currently see on the Internet. They cleaned it up.

And, never forget that O'Donnell is a lawyer who has conducted many a cross-examination in his career.

[Deuce]

22. Yes, that's the impression I got last night after reading the story.

Hoping I can find the original to read. The reporter appeared to be spinning for the police department.

[groundloop]

24. The story I linked to is exactly the same as last night.

I pulled up that story within minutes of Lawrence' interview. If there's a different version which appeared first I'll eat my words.

[grasswire]

25. start eating

The original story that Lawrence was quoting from, as found by DU-er Paul Johnson in an Australian newspaper, unaltered:

Paul: Good news! Even though the original article has been removed from the Orlando Sentinel website and replaced with a rewritten version (7:36 pm ET), the Sentinel syndicates its stories, and you can find the morning version reprinted in The Age (Australia). Here is the section that Lawrence was citing, and you will note that only one statement of the narrative is specifically attributed to Zimmerman: "Police have been reluctant to provided details about all their evidence, but this is what they've disclosed to the Sentinel:

Zimmerman was on his way to the grocery store when he spotted Trayvon walking through his gated community.

Trayvon was visiting his father's fiancee, who lived there. He had been suspended from school in Miami after being found with an empty marijuana baggie. Miami schools have a zero-tolerance policy for drug possession.

Zimmerman called police and reported a suspicious person, describing Trayvon as black, acting strangely and perhaps on drugs.

Zimmerman got out of his SUV to follow Trayvon on foot. When a dispatch employee asked Zimmerman if he was following the 17-year-old, Zimmerman said yes. The dispatcher told Zimmerman he did not need to do that.

There is about a one-minute gap during which police say they're not sure what happened.

Zimmerman told them he lost sight of Trayvon and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.

Trayvon asked Zimmerman if he had a problem. Zimmerman said no and reached for his mobile phone, he told police.

Trayvon then said, "Well, you do now" or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose."


http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002476248

[groundloop]

28. OK - Words Eaten