The Commonwealth Iconoclast

A site dedicated to covering issues relevant to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and nation at large, plus other interesting things too, as I see fit...

Thursday, April 06, 2006

NBC Sends "Muslims" to Martinsville Speedway...


In an attempt to "make news" (as opposed to reporting it) it appears that recently NBC's "Dateline" program sent a few Osama bin Laden look-alikes to Martinsville Speedway to gauge the reaction from the public. Let me take a guess, these "Muslims" weren't greated as if they were "Larry the Cable Guy", Allen Jackson, or Tom DeLay. Noooo! I'm shocked!

Here are some other ideas for the producers of Dateline to consider for their next expose:

Placing an ACLU information table at the next Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort AP Hill.

How about handing out PETA brochures at the annual convention of the National Cattlemen's Association?

Attempt to start a gay and bisexual student alliance at Liberty University?

Take an African-American friend to the Country Club of Virginia to play a round of golf?

Can anyone else think of another idea for the producers of Dateline?

But in all seriousness, overt racism directed towards any person or group is terrible and can never be tolerated. Also, I don't think NASCAR fans are inherenlty racist or judgemental. Actually I went to a NASCAR race a few years ago (OK, a friend FORCED me to go) and I found the crowd to be pleasant and surprisingly diverse. Regardless, I find this "news story" by Dateline to be an example of "trolling" at the bottom of the barrell in order to create a story to be extremely pathetic and unethical even for a trash television show like Dateline.

posted by Will Vaught @ 9:20 AM  

6 Comments:

  • At 4/06/2006 4:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I second that thought, way too many dumb "news" show on the TV these days.

     

  • At 4/06/2006 4:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I second that thought, way too many dumb "news" show on the TV these days.

     

  • At 4/06/2006 8:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

     

  • At 4/06/2006 8:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    How about sending the Raising Kaine and Draft Webb bloggers over to Harris Miller's house for dinner and a movie?

    For the record, I'm down for #4...

     

  • At 4/07/2006 8:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    We probably had better try to get over the fantasy notion that there is such a thing as "objective" or "unbiased" news reporting. Never has been. Never will be.

    Everybody has got an agenda and even the most respected journalistic institutions have been caught red-handed slanting the news one way or another, picking and choosing what they consider news (surpressing the rest), and even fabricating news if they need to to advance their bias.

    And this is not a new development just applied to TV and radio. Bias and hidden agendas have always been part and parcel of journalism.

    The key is: the good journalists are much more skillful in picking issues, crafting fact based stories, and all the while hiding and advancing their particular bias.

    Bias is not always a bad thing. But just keep in mind that there is always a bias of some sort. The truth is out there but don't expect to be spoon fed.

     

  • At 4/07/2006 8:44 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I've got an idea Will - how about Dateline send Katherine Harris (the "See you next Tuesday" of a Senate candidate from Florida) to a NAACP convention to give the keynote speech? I'd love to see the reaction from the crowd!

     

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