Posted on 04/08/2006 10:02:16 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Here's what now passes for "news gathering" at the NBC television network in the brave, and still relatively new, world of 24/7 electronic news broadcasting: Last weekend, a crew working for the NBC News magazine program "Dateline" showed up in Martinsville, Va. for the NASCAR stock car races. With the crew were some "Muslim-looking men" - whatever that means - as part of a "Dateline" effort to show how people in this country would react to "Muslims" in their midst.
In a recent statement, NBC News said it was pursuing the issue because it was "intrigued by the results of a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll and other articles regarding increasing anti-Muslim sentiments in the United States."
So, what happened at Martinsville Speedway?
Nothing. To the everlasting credit of the NASCAR Nation, not a curse word was uttered, not a punch was thrown, not a thing happened.
If you're a born-and-bred Southerner like me, you know in your deep-fried bones that's not the result the "Dateline" crew was hoping it would get.
No, you can bet the "Dateline" crew was expecting one thing, and one thing only: They were convinced they'd come away from Martinsville Speedway with video of their "Muslim" marks being beaten by a bunch of tire-iron-wielding, gap-toothed, trailer-dwelling, drunken mouth-breathers in wife-beater T-shirts.
Despite all its high-minded posturing that it simply was intrigued by a poll, NBC News was doing nothing more in Martinsville than looking for a video clip that would confirm its own prejudices. The "Dateline" crew was looking not to report the news, but to create some news.
Elsewhere in its statement on the "Dateline" story, NBC said, "It's very early in our newsgathering process, but be assured we will be visiting a number of locations across the country and are confident that our reporting team is pursuing this story in a fair manner."
Fair enough, as far as "pursuing this story" goes.
But, of course, the proof of NBC's "fair manner" won't be made manifest in its pursuit of the story.
The proof of the network's stated commitment to fairness will be in its editing and presentation of the "Dateline" piece, if it ever makes it to the airwaves.
It will be interesting to see if the "Dateline" segment producers are willing to air footage of their "Muslims" in Martinsville. It's not likely to be particularly exciting. According to Ramsey Poston, managing director of corporate communications for NASCAR, as quoted in the online version of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, the crew and the men "walked around, and no one bothered them."
It also will be interesting to see where else the "Dateline" crew decides to take its "Muslim" men. Will they, for instance, be willing to take the men to a polo match, a Mercedes-Benz dealership or any other supposedly "upscale" location, and air, unedited, the footage they gather?
Will they be willing to take the men, unannounced, into their own neighborhoods, and air that footage unedited?
It's too bad the "Dateline" crew didn't take a little time to poke around in the NBC newsroom before embarking on this story. It wouldn't have taken them long to realize the wrongheadedness of their apparently ill-hidden preconceptions regarding NASCAR fans.
As it happens, Brian Williams, anchor of the network's nightly newscast - and hardly a part of the demographic the "Dateline" crew clearly expected to find in Martinsville - is a deep-dyed NASCAR fan.
Here's Williams responding to a question during an interview by NBC's Lester Holt about his affinity for NASCAR: "I will watch anything go around in a circle. ... I love the car racing. ... I just have always loved it. I love the smell of it, the sound of it."
So do a lot of people.
And here's a news flash: That doesn't automatically make them simple-minded bigots.
>>NBC is a POS outfit and should be flushed at the earliest oppertunity.<<
I think people need to recognize the company that's BEHIND the management of NBC, namely General Electric, who owns NBC. GE's management tolerates this kind of irresponsible behavior, failing to provide meaningful punishment of those who engage in it.
What cynical commercial or political purpose does GE's tolerance of such misbehavior serve? Answer that, and you will understand why it continues unabated.
They forgot to add Confederate Flag waving.
They lost their contract with NASCAR? When? If so, is Fox gonna do the whole season?
Heck, if NBC hasn't lost the contract, they ought to for a stunt like this!
The "Muslims" will, in all likelihood, be fine---but that damn news crew had better watch out. Of course, it might really improve their perspective if they were to have a tire-iron wrapped around their heads!
You really have to wonder what goes through these wingnuts minds when they dream up stunts like this. It's like a scientist with a faulty hypothesis who tries the same experiment again and again, always hoping for the right outcome, despite demonstrable failure in every previous attempt. If NBC wants to see bigotry and hatred, they should look no further than the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
>>
We need someone with the balls, equipment, and time to do exactly that, a la Michael Moore. It would not be difficult. That could just be the start. How about send a bunch of minority homeless types into George Soros' or Barbara Striesand's neighborhood. Really, the possibilities are endless.
<<
I'll volunteer. I'd love to see Hillary's face, surrounded by really "bulky" muslims.
That idiot Wilbon on PTI was acting like their was a story not NBC trying to create one. He should stick to sports. Of course his handlers in the NAACP would love for him to go on an anti-Bush rant on t.v.
I hope you are serious and not just making noise.
LOL! That would be fun!
This is a terrible tragedy.
190,000 people in one place is a tempting terrorist target.
NASCAR fans just became less likely to defend themselves in, and be alerted to, a legitimate attack.
Considering Babs is too cheap to leave a tip at a restaurant, the likely outcome here is that their private bodyguards would beat the homeless/minorities to within an inch of their lives and dump them outside the city limits. It's a common tactic in Brasil for undesirables, I'd fully expect Babs to live up to the highest standards of the third world. It's everything she wants us to be after all...
Gotta love it. NBC tries to manufacture news and fails. Maybe they should stick to making car-bombs.
I can't take credit for this, but when Michelle Malkin revealed this story a few days ago, someone on FR said the following about the Muslim men:
Didn't NBC stick bombs in their butts like they did with the GM pickup trucks?
I watched Busch yesterday just to see if the NASCAR announcers would say anything about this, and they did not.
But then I got to thinking: why give NBC and/or Muslim's any more air time then they deserve? This is what they were probably looking for. A big story for the media. I think by not talking about it on air would make them madder then ever. Good! The less said the better.
But I do want to hear something in print about what if anything, happened. NBC sucks! 
So much for our “esteemed” news media’s prejudice against anything Southern.
Take them to the upper West Side of Manhattan and see the reaction. Or how about the Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard? Go for it, NBC!
"You can find a chisel, I can find a stone, folks'll be readin' these words long after we're gone" lol
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