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When it comes to the news industry, clicks are increasingly the coin of the realm. This is especially true for local television news. Take, for example, Washington, D.C.’s CBS affiliate WUSA 9 News, which aired a segment last week that was light on news, but racked up plenty of clicks when it went viral.

The segment features veteran broadcaster Bruce Johnson and his camerawoman on assignment, trying to get information about an alleged home invasion and hostage situation. A woman at the residence asks the news crew to leave, and assaults them when they don’t. WUSA 9 played the story big: Not the home invasion angle, but the journalists coming under attack part. In setting up the segment, Johnson reports that he doesn’t know whether the woman was one of the victims of the alleged home invasion, and she is never identified in the video clip.

Watch the video clip below:

“I think this is a pathetic example of journalism,” said Kelly McBride, a senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute who specializes in journalism ethics. “ The journalists don’t know who this woman is or what her relationship to the story is. The reporter and the anchors do the exact opposite of what journalists are supposed to do. They made the story more confusing, for no good reason.”

WUSA’s news director Fred D’Ambrosi defended his decision to air the video toThe Washington Post’s Paul Farhi (D’Ambrosi didn’t return phone calls fromallDigitocracy). “If the definition of news is something unusual happening, this was certainly something unusual,” D’Ambrosi told Farhi. “Bruce has been a reporter for 35 years, and this has never happened to him. . . . [Showing this] might help people understand what journalists go through. I wish I knew more about the woman who came out, but you have to make the best call under the circumstances.”

Johnson agrees with his boss, and so does Mike Cavender, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association in Washington. Cavender told Farhi: “Based on what I saw and what I learned of the story, I would have gone with it.”

But what exactly did viewers see? What did they learn? And even though the station has the power to air whatever it wants, was it ethical for WUSA 9 to do so? Many of those commenting on the video, including fellow journalists, root for the news crew and poke fun at the woman who may or may not be a recent crime victim, raising even more ethical questions about the station’s goal of airing the clip.

A study on images of black women released last month by Essence Magazine found that the “angry black woman” is one of three negative stereotypes all too prevalent in the media. The unidentified woman in the video fits the myth of the angry black woman almost to perfection: Hostile, hysterical, ranting and aggressive, no matter the myriad emotions — if in fact a victim — she may have experienced the night before. Viewers simply do not know, and this is precisely why the video should not have seen the light of day.

Jackie Jones, Chair of the Department of Multimedia Journalism at Morgan State University in Baltimore, said beyond the stereotypical imagery, there was nothing to have been gained from airing the story.

“Usually when someone is cussing you out and threatening you, you get in the truck and leave,” said Jones. “There was nothing to be gotten out of that story and once he did the stand-up, he should have been through. All that said, since no one was hurt and it wasn’t clear what this woman’s role was in the house, I probably wouldn’t have run the story at all, except that there had been a standoff and possible hostage situation.”

Phyllis Fletcher, an editor at KUOW Public Radio, said viewers simply aren’t given enough information about what really happened. Nor is there enough information for it to be a story, she added.

“The reporter, and ALL due respect to the brother and the position he’s in, admits that he doesn’t know whether the young woman had been a victim in the crime the news crew sought to report. That is a serious issue,” Fletcher wrote in a Facebook post. “Yes, it’s true she doesn’t represent herself very well in the video. But we don’t have context for who she is or what the news staff said outside of their edits. She may not even be 18. The focus of this segment is not even actual news. The station anticipated, correctly, that it would go viral though.”

In the end, WUSA 9 probably accomplished exactly what it wanted. After all, there is more pressure than ever for news directors like D’Ambrosi to rack up clicks, often at the expense of true engagement with audiences.

Poynter’s McBride said she suspects WUSA 9 “just wanted to show the video of this woman making a fool of herself because it is sensational.” McBride wondered: “Why not do some reporting? Why not knock on the door and ask her if she wants to talk about what happened at her house? Why not get more information from the police?”

Answer: Because good journalism isn’t necessary when all that’s really wanted are clicks.

[This post originally appeared at allDigitocracy.org]

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Hello? Damn, R. Kelly, is that you? Not sure if it is, but bruh is looking bad-den-a-mugg! Nah, dude does look like R. Kelly when he was in court wearing that orange jumpsuit, but it’s not him though. I don’t know, but that might be a good thing considering what dude in the pic above did this week. But then again, R. Kelly is on tour across the country these days, so somebody better check to see if he anywhere near Kansas City last Wednesday. We all know how he’s into freaky shit, so anything is possible, right?

Prosecutors have accused a 48-year-old man of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on a sidewalk in broad daylight Wednesday and later telling police, “I thought that lady was dead.”

Jackson County prosecutors charged Melvin L. Jackson of Kansas City with a felony count of sexual assault in connection with the 11:30 a.m. attack in the 3400 block of Troost Avenue.

The victim told police she felt lightheaded while walking, so she found a shady area and sat down. She later lost consciousness and awoke to a witness yelling, “Help her! Get up off of her!”

The victim said she didn’t remember being assaulted, but she noticed her underwear had been removed.

A witness flagged down a nearby police car, and an officer arrested Jackson, who was walking down the street with his pants unzipped, according to court records. When the officer asked Jackson about his pants, Jackson allegedly said he touched “a lady’s leg” and “I thought that lady was dead.”

The witness told police she saw Jackson having sexual intercourse with the victim, who was in the fetal position, after another witness brought the assault to her attention, according to court records.

When police tried to interview Jackson, he allegedly blurted, “Did that lady say I did something to her?” He later said, “I have the right to remain silent,” according to court records. (source)

This is crzy as hell; and obviously, dude has issues. I mean I’ve seen some people do some crazy shit in the streets in my day. But to just walk up on some random sleeping woman, take off her draws, and have sex with her? In broad daylight? Because you thought she was dead? Clearly this cat was no EMT, nor mortician; and that my friends, maybe a good thing. Here’s to hoping somebody sprinkles him with Holy water before he returns to society.  At least he knew that he had the right to remain silent – pretty smart dude, no?

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(H/T The Insane Asylum)

I dunno just exactly who should be offended. Should it be fat people? Hoes? Overweight women? I do know the good Christian restaurant in the clip below is full of shit. Frankly, they’re just hatin’ on the sister who owns the joint. I mean judging by the clip, I don’t see people lining up to eat Jesus Burgers, so…

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Well, according to them, they’re still actively investigating Jackson’s death as a homicide so therefore the results of the autopsy should be kept under wraps for now. You know what that tells me? That tells me that they’re putting together an airtight case on Dr. Conrad Murray. Yep, I get the impression that they’re not only getting all of their ducks lined up in a row, they’re doing all they can to make sure this guy goes down and tie him to other crimes. If this Negro has warrants for unpaid jaywalking tickets he’s going to do prison time.

I’m just sayin’, we now know that this married doctor is behind on child support, has money problems, and is also an alleged Captain Save-A-Hoe. Yeah, “allegedly”, Dr. Death has an arrangement with an ex-stripper he was courting on the side, with whom he has a love child; hey, you say “love child”, I say “Champagne Room” baby.

Dr. Conrad Murray – under investigation for giving Jackson the anesthetic propofol – met Nicole Alvarez, 27, while she danced at the Vegas club Crazy Horse in December 2005, said ex-pal Ben Harris Jr.Harris said he saw a $3,500 check Murray gave her after their first encounter during a weekend swing through Sin City.”She came home the next morning excited,” said Harris. “She woke me up – ‘Boobie! Oh my goodness. I hit the jackpot.'”He said Murray helped Alvarez move from her mom’s rental to a posh Santa Monica pad and gave her a BMW.”I rode in Murray’s car and even helped Nicole spend his money,” said Harris, who has written a manuscript about their escapades titled “A Lucrative Vengeance.”Alvarez declined to comment. A neighbor said she still lives in the apartment with her baby, Che Murray, born March 2.A birth certificate first obtained by RadarOnline identifies Murray as the father. His lawyer declined comment. [source]See? Why else would we know this type of information, but yet to know just exactly what killed Michael Jackson? I’m kinda tired of hearing about this guy’s personal life to be honest with you and I wish they would just go ahead and arrest him already. But I’ve watched Law & Order and The First 48 on television a time or two and I understand that they need something solid on him.
I mean think about it: if Dr. Broke-Pimp was in such financial trouble as he was/is, having to support a “retired” stripper (which from what I hear is kinda expensive), why would he kill Michael Jackson even accidentally? Yep, where’s the motive? Seems like as f*cked up as this guy was while MJ was alive he damn sure would have done all he could to keep his cash cow breathing. And you see, like me, the cops are smart so they’re going to pin pretty much any unsolved murder on this guy in order for justice to prevail.
I mean c’mon, this is the King of Pop who’s dead that we’re talking about here. They cannot afford to let this guy slide as they did the leprechaun who killed Biggie and Tupac so they’re going hard on this one. Yep, you know how the police love “sprinkling crack” on Black suspects. Don’t be surprised if they implicate this guy in the assassination of John F. Kennedy as well. Yep, from here on out Dr. Conrad Murray will be implicated in all gang-related murders, drive-by shootings, and any car jacking which resulted in death in Los Angeles County. Hell, he just might be the reason the push for health care reform fails. You know how it is: always blame the Black guy.

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I’m not mad at them because if they didn’t, well, lord knows how much more sin we’d have in this world. I know being a virgin and giving birth is miraculous and all, but I doubt any of you would believe the chick on Maury who says that she was a virgin mother. Thats one episode that I’d like to see. I gotta admit, it’d be kinda cool seeing 10 dudes all hear “you are not the father” after they admitted that they had sex with the chick who claims she was a pregnant virgin. Oh well, so much for that ever happening.

The latest virgin Mary sighting happens to be on the cover of Playboy. Yup, thats the cover above. It would seem that there is some controversy over this model being depicted as The Virgin Mary. This illustration was published on the Mexican version of Playboy magazine, and people are losing their minds. I could understand that happening because the country of Mexico is largely catholic. No wonder people are against Mexican immigrants coming to America.

Now when I first saw this, I never drew the Virgin Mary connection. I just thought it was just some hot chick, and never gave any thought as to what she was wearing. Truth be told, I just thought it was some middle eastern porn version of Playboy. I’m serious! Do you think people in the middle east or the holy land don’t jerk off or more appropriately, masturbate?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t see this as a big deal. Hell the publishers of the magazine even said that it wasn’t their intent to carry a virgin Mary depiction. But its to be expected, people gave Kanye West a hard time when he did the now infamous Jesus Christ crucifixion pic even after he said it was a work of art. This is what I call art, and as you know, art can be interpreted many different ways. Having said that, I think people need to chill the fuck out. Hell, even it it was an intentional depiction of Mary, you gotta be happy in knowing that those horny readers upon seeing it would give their lives to Christ, especially for God creating such a fine specimen.

I can only wonder if this was released in America if it would be a big deal. The combination of catholics and religious right wingers bitching would be a deadly assault. Shit, I just wanna know why they don’t pitch a bitch whenever Mary is found on a potato chip. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think this is just another example of the protection of the sanctity of the White woman. If this were on the cover of Black Tail Magazine, I doubt anyone would care.

QUESTION: Could you watch Christian porn? Wouldn’t it be cool to watch a porno flick where in the end there was a religious message and maybe the chick who just fucked like 6 dudes and got saved? Isn’t it the message that’s important?

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I don’t know if you guys have seen, read or even heard. But the other day in a surprise visit to Baghdad, an irate Iraqi reporter threw some size 10 Stacy Adams at our beloved commander in chief. I guess thats what you get for a surprise visit. Maybe next time he would call ahead.

But hey, when you’ve thrown an entire country into turmoil, through military destruction, and lost of lives, all on a LIE, I don’t think you can announce your visit ahead of time. He better be lucky he got a shoe tossed at his ass instead of an IED strategically placed at the podium. That would have been ugly. As much as I dislike this man, I’m happy to see a shoe tossed instead of a bomb or something like that.

My only wish was that the shoe thrower to be more accurate. Yup, I wish he had hit him in the face, but instead he missed. Though he intended to hit him, he was off target. I guess that’s what you get for not throwing something heavy like steel toe boots or maybe some army issued Timberlands.

The thing that struck me as I watched the clip of this episode over and over as I rolled with fits of laughter, is that there was no secret service. Remember when Reagan got shot? There were like 400 secret servicemen around him at the time. Hell, one of them even took a bullet for the man. But George Bush? Depending on how you’re looking at it, no such luck.

To me, it would seem that there would have been at least one brave white secret service dude (I’m sorry, but the brothas aren’t that loyal) who would have dove in front of the shoe. If not that, he would have at least scooped up the president and whisked him away to safety. But yet, none of that happened. Instead, our Idiot In Chief was allowed to continue speaking. He even took this embarrassment and turned it into a comedy routine. I really would have liked to see what he would have had to say if that pissed off Iraqi decided to bare his ass and “moon” him on national TV.

Memo to the secret service: Umm, failure to do your job under the presidency of Barack Obama the likes of this shoe incident could possibly lead to loss of employment.

Its been reported that the Iraqi shoe assassin, had been recently arrested and tortured. See how that torture shit can come back to haunt you Mr. Bush? I’m also pretty sure that he wasn’t too happy that his relatives had been killed as a result of the occupation either. For that, I guess our president can say that the surge worked. If it didn’t, lord knows it wouldn’t have been a shoe thrown. It could have been worse.

It may have been a rock. Those Iraqi’s are known to be the shit when it comes to throwing rocks at tanks. I’m pretty sure as experienced as they are with the ethnic infighting, they wouldn’t have missed. However, I’m glad that it was a shoe, and that Bush is alive today so that I can laugh at his ass. Its better to laugh at him after all of this instead of the country being thrust into mourning. Having to hear people talk about how GREAT he was would make me puke.

I gotta give him credit though, he has some quick reflexes. Did you see how fast he ducked, and avoided being hit? I could be wrong, but I think he picked up that “Matrix” move and added it to his repertoire after Hurricane Katrina, just in case one of those angry Negroes got brave. I don’t know, but I know somebody needs to nominate that Iraqi reporter as Time Magazine Man of The Year. Just like my fat ass, I can’t help but to think that somewhere in hell, there’s a guy with a thick mustache, dressed in military style gear who is laughing his ass off right now.

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Everybody by now thinks that Michael Vick is an idiot. You know why they do? Because he was rich. It’s not because of his involvement in dog fighting. Again, it’s because he was rich. I mean why would a rich guy like him get involved in dog fighting?
The answer is in one word…FRIENDS!!

I seriously doubt whether he woke up one day and just decided to get involved in dog fighting. I think only after years of involvement with an individual or individuals (i.e. friends) he decided to get involved. I don’t know, but I think his boys pitched him off and on for a while, before he got in the game. I’m pretty sure that he thought about it for a long time but eventually he gave in because after all, those were his friends. But were they really?
In my opinion, they were not. Wanna know why I say that? Its simple…when the shit hit the fan, they were the first to flip on him. Yeah that’s right! They fuckin snitched! See that’s the thing that was lost in that whole fiasco. People were so focused on the crime, race and the wealth of Michael Vick that they’ve overlooked his friends. Its just like the Duke LaCrosse case. Everybody was focused on the rape victim and more so the white dudes who “allegedly” raped her because she was black. Everybody forgot that we were talking about a stripper, and not once anybody focused on her pimp. Nobody was worried or said shit about him. I’m pretty sure as a result of that “scandal” her pimp lost money with all the heat surrounding her. But like I said, nobody cared about him.
But back to Vick, yeah he went down because of his friends. Could he have chosen better friends? I don’t know or do I really care at this point. Hell I don’t know where the fuck he came from or his background. So for me to be judgmental like some folks when you don’t know the dude is pretty damn dumb! But I sure can talk about it. There’s an old saying…
“There’s no loyalty amongst thieves”I used to be a believer of this in theory but now I have to question it. I mean personally, in the past I chose to do my dirt by my damn self and never got friends involved. If you were involved you were a business associate and not a friend. Maybe I’m wrong, but friends don’t make money together. You can watch any mob flick and figure that shit out real quick. And to me, that’s where O.J. Simpson went wrong in putting his “posse” together to run up in that hotel room. His silly arrogant ass thought those guys were his friends. Lets be real, its not like he woke up that morning and decided to call his “buddies” and ask them to back him up in bumrushing the hotel room. Nope, they called his dumbass, and he went along with them instead of calling the cops. The bottom line here is the fact that friends and business don’t mix.

Well that’s unless you’re this guy….

Yeah Vick and O.J. Simpson should’ve had friends like this guy. I mean think about it, Bin Laden has been public enemy number one for years. Uh huh, and where is he? The fuck if I know. But I know that he’s not in jail or giving press conferences saying that he found Jesus like Vick did. Nor has he ever stood before a United States judge and sounded the part of a recently caught runaway slave just like O.J. did at his sentencing. I swear I thought that Negro was gonna break into an old Negro spiritual afterwards. Seriously, O.J. surprised me sounding almost like “John Coffee” the magical Negro in the movie “The Green Mile”. Shit, I didn’t know O.J. still had that much Black in him. But instead Osama is free and doesn’t give a fuck. And he can only be that way because of his friends.

Its obvious, his friends are pretty fuckin loyal. If I had friends like Osama has I’d be at the strip club every damn weekend. They’d pay for me to get in and also give me money to tip the girls. Most importantly, my wife would never findout. I mean c’mon people, there aren’t that many caves in Afghanistan. I’d say that he has some pretty good friends, and those are the type of friends we all should have. With friends like that, bill collectors, the repo man, and the child support people would never be able to find you. And Michael Vick would be playing football, still fighting dogs, and not finding Jesus. And O.J. Simpson would still be free to be the most hated Black man in America.

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I don’t know if you people ever heard of this one, but 2yrs ago, here in Memphis, this story was a big deal. A local church here in Memphis wanted to help victims of hurricane Katrina. They decided to purchase a home and select one displaced family to live in it with the hopes of providing them a new beginning. They purchased a $75,000 home and decided to give the home to a family who as it was reported,begged to be selected. These folks told the church that they liked it here in Memphis and they were gonna move in, and make this city home. Instead, they sold the home for $88,000 and jetted back to New Orleans.

When I heard this story,I was kinda like whoa! Why would somebody do such a thing? Why would somebody be so ungrateful? Well, as the story unfolded, it was reported that they (the church) gave the house to these people with no strings attached. They didn’t sign a “contract” which legally bounded them to live in the house. So in my opinion, they could do what the hell they wanted with it once it was given to them.

Now I’m known to clown stupid people on here,but I’ve never clowned a church. Oh well there is a first time for everything. The church was pissed! They felt like they were played by these people. I say, fuck it…you gave them a blank check! I can’t get mad at these people, but I can laugh at the church. Am I wrong? You tell me.
(Read the story here )

Moving right along…

Allow me to introduce you to 57-year old Jacquelyn Sherman. Jackie is a retired librarian from New Orleans. Like most there she lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. While living in a three-bedroom house with 26 OTHER PEOPLE the 1st month after Katrina Jackie decided to go shopping with her sister. On the way, they stopped in at a Casino where Jackie threw $20 in a slot machine and hit a $1.6 Million jackpot. This of course created the classic two sided debate…
What the hell is a Hurricane Evacuee doing gambling away their money?

Well I say…

GAMBLE THAT HURRICANE MONEY BABY!
I can only imagine the level of hopelessness that Jackie has been feeling the month after the hurricane. At some point you have to take a break from what has become your horrible existence and RELAX. Leaving religion out of this issue lets just breakdown why people gamble…adrenaline, that rush from almost winning. It’s entertainment. You go to the movies…to be entertained. You go to a football game…to be entertained. So why not go and risk $20…to be entertained. At least at a casino you have a shot of winning back some of the money you wasted. Never have you spent $150 at Disney World and some guy gives you $75 on your way out. And the people that are pissed that she’s out gambling while she has nothing, you’re forgetting one small detail…ITS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!
You donated money to the Katrina cause and now you’re mad because they aren’t spending YOUR money the way you wanted them to. Get over it, Jesus will still give you full credit for donating money in the first place. If you really think every evacuee is a great person then you’re lying to yourself. New Orleans is like any other city it’s got some assholes. So just because you don’t see anyone squandering their federal aid checks doesn’t mean it’s not happening. You give the money in good faith and walk away from the situation.
Let’s take a look at Jackie’s previous 45 days after the hurricane and decide if she should’ve been gambling. Jackie sat on a roof for 2-3 days for help that never came, probably waded through some waist high gumbo of turds, sewage, gasoline, and dead bodies to get to a corner store and steal some Crunch N Munch. On the fifth day she’s finally airlifted to another city split up from her family, sleeping on a cold floor for days. She finally does find her family who’s now living 26 deep in a 3 bedroom apartment. You ever taken a shower behind 25 PEOPLE! Do you know how many different hairs are on the soap by then? And lets not forget ol’ Jackie doesn’t have any new clothes or anything and she finally decides to do something to entertain herself. Something that’ll get her mind off the horrible month she had last week. $20 on a slot machine. No different than the $20 you spent on beer and touch screen solitaire at the pool hall.

There’s no need to criticize someone because you don’t agree with how they choose to entertain themselves. Hell if it were up to me I’d rent a helicopter and drop strippers, alcohol and drugs to all the evacuees. Drugs, strippers, and gambling won’t solve anyone’s post-Katrina problems, but if doing something entertaining will get your mind off your problems for just a minute, doesn’t that help you retain just a bit of your sanity?

The moral of the story…

SOMETHING GOOD COMES OUT OF EVERY BAD SITUATION. P.S. Just ask Govenor Sarah Palin.

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