Breitbarted Again? BigGovernment Uses Deceptively Edited Video To Smear University Professors - UPDATED
In yet another installment of the Breitbart sagas, a bit of controversy has erupted over the veracity of two videos posted on BigGovernment's site under the careful editorial eye of Dana Loesch, et al. They claim that two university professors are
In yet another installment of the Breitbart sagas, a bit of controversy has erupted over the veracity of two videos posted on BigGovernment's site under the careful editorial eye of Dana Loesch, et al. They claim that two university professors are indoctrinating young, impressionable college students with commie union thug tactics. And of course, they have the video to prove it, or so they say.
Breitbart is a master of taking quotes out of context, deletion of what doesn’t serve his purpose, and remixing to achieve totally different meaning. For example he has me saying:
o Breitbart’s version: “Violence is a tactic and it’s to be used when it’s the appropriate tactic.”
o The real version: After students had watched a film on the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike and the assassination of Martin Luther King, they were discussing nonviolence. I said, “One guy in the film. . . said ‘violence is a tactic, and it’s to be used when it’s the appropriate tactic.’ . . . “ The class proceeded to discuss and debate this.
Thus Mr. Breitbart’s editing has literally put words in my mouth that were not mine, and they never were mine.
It's almost a certainty that Andrew Breitbart or his proxies will claim that they didn't have the entire video at their disposal, that they were only given the edited version. Lest you believe that, let me point you to evidence which says otherwise. First, they have promised to provide much more from the 30 hours of video in their possession, which is the length of this course. Second, there is this declaration from the BigGovernment website in response to an editorial on the topic:
“Breitbart’s way?” I guess Shelly just discovered the webernetz and is unaware that Breitbart doesn’t actually edit or produce videos; he serves as a publisher and aggregate, period. In super-layman’s terms that even reporters at the Kansas City Star can understand, this means that other people make the videos and then bring them to Andrew Breitbart who then decides if he wants to publish them on one of his websites. Shelly’s suggestion that he does edit these videos is a lie.
The thought never occurs to Purely Partisan Shelly that the professors in the videos actually said the things they are saying.
If I'm reading that correctly, people bring video to the Breitbart editors (either Breitbart himself or his designated proxies in the form of Dana Loesch et al), who then decide whether to publish them. While denying any editorial responsibility on Breitbart's part, this author then proceeds to say that yes, the professors actually said the things on the video.
Well, no argument at the most superficial level. They did say those words. The problem is, they also said more, and even with the few words Breitbart chose to use, they were rearranged in a way that distorted what they said and the context in which they said it. Loesch, anticipating the possibility they might be held to account for their distortions, has launched a pre-emptive strike:
She takes exception to the portion of the post in which I refer to the Shirley Sherrod video as “doctored.”
“Since when is a video excerpt identical to the full video ‘doctored?‘“Loesch asks. Point taken. I should have referred to the Sherrod video as “deceptively edited.”
Loesch also complains: “Your suggestion that Breitbart himself edited this is false and defamatory and I seek an immediate correction. This series, as with the ACORN tapes and Sherrod video, was presented to him and he acted as an aggregate.”
So, to be clear, Loesch et al are disclaiming any responsibility for featuring video which is clearly edited to convey a message which is exactly opposite of that which the speaker intended. If they intend to do this, then it should also be clearly understood that there is absolutely no pretense of journalism taking place on those sites and anything posted there should not be taken seriously or given any weight whatsoever, now or ever.
Further, as to Loesch's question about a video excerpt which is identical to the full video, that excuse won't fly in this case, because excerpts were not just clipped. They were rearranged. I have italicized the cut in the first clip which would make no sense grammatically until you see where the actual words fit into the full version. So my question for Dana Loesch is this: Since when is an outfit claiming to be journalists exempt from the responsibility for posting and promoting doctored videos?
Since the Breitbart folks claim to have the full 30 hours of video, why haven't they published this one in its original unaltered form as I have here to make crystal-clear what the speaker's intent was?
United Association for Labor Education member Steven Ashby:
UALE member Steven Ashby of the University of Illinois said, “It’s no coincidence this attack comes in the wake of the biggest workers’ upsurge in 30 years, in Wisconsin.”
The goal of labor education programs, Ashby said, “is to educate and assist workers to build stronger unions. The right wing would like all labor studies programs wiped out because they want all unions wiped out.”
Brietbart is more than happy to help them with that, but by now, the rest of us should know better.
Update: Insurgent Visuals, the purveyor of these videos, is now doubling down and defending themselves while failing to note that the actual unedited clips do not sequentially play as they characterize them. In other words, they'll cop to editing but only in sequence, when in fact, they overlaid two distinctly different clips with remarks made at two distinctly different times on each other.
Further, they ask why it is that the university hasn't released the full video to the public without mentioning the privacy issues with regard to students' comments and identities. If, as they claim, the video is available to download via the university system, and that is how they obtained it, and if they have copies of the full video, why haven't they released the full versions to support their accusations?
Update 2: Media Matters has now picked this up too.
Update 3: Big Government has now issued their first correction, where they 'inadvertently forgot' to say they left out the entire middle (with the real meaning) of Giljum's quote.
Also, Media Matters points out that for all Breitbart's bluster over free speech, he shows himself as the hypocrite we know he is. He is suppressing free speech in because in his world, only Tea Partiers have the right to it. The rest of us can live under their totalitarian regime for all he cares.