AP journalist criticized for claiming George Zimmerman disobeyed 9-11 dispatcher's orders [View all]

[adric mutelovic]

In an AP article appearing in the Washington Post, AP's Mike Schneider (@MikeSchneiderAP) reported today that

"Zimmerman called 911, got out of his vehicle and followed Martin behind the townhomes despite being told not to by a police dispatcher. “These a------s, they always get away,” Zimmerman said on the call. Zimmerman, who had a concealed weapons permit, was armed."

As media critic Bob Somerby points out,

"Oof. Plainly, Schneider conveys the impression that Zimmerman disobeyed that police dispatcher at some point and in some manner. It sounds like the dispatcher told Zimmerman not to get out of his vehicle.

Plainly, that last claim isn’t true. Zimmerman was already out of his truck and following Trayvon Martin when the dispatcher made the statement in question."

Link


He (Somerby) further pointed out that unlike Schneider, a Sunday NY Times piece by Lizette Alvarez did get it right, by saying the prosecution "will argue" that Zimmerman disobeyed 9-11 dispatcher, while the defense "will argue" that he did not, instead of flatly stating that the prosecution's version is the correct one. NY Times, 6-9-2013: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/us/with-zimmerman-trial-to-open-emotions-still-raw.html?ref=todayspaper