Thursday, July 22, 2010

@AndrewBreitbart issues correction, sort of but could care less about shirley sherrod

source http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40104.html

Three days after posting a misleading video that cost Shirley Sherrod her job and started a race debate, Andrew Breitbart has posted a 37-word correction unrelated to the controversy he stirred up. 

The original video Breitbart posted was a two-minute clip out of a 40-minute speech by former Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod that made Sherrod appear to say she did not lend her "full force" in aiding white farmers. 

In fact, Sherrod's speech at an NAACP event in Georgia focused on how she had gradually moved past any racial animosity after having her father killed in a racially motivated crime. 

Breitbart posted the misleading clip Monday. But a full video of the speech was not posted online until Tuesday night. In the meantime, Sherrod was fired from her job and accused of being a racist by the NAACP. 

But rather than acknowledge any sort of mistake in posting the abbreviated video, Breitbart has updated the post — which still comes under the headline "Video Proof: The NAACP Awards Racism" — with only a clarification on when she held her government position. 

"While Ms. Sherrod made the remarks captured in the first video featured in this post while she held a federally appointed position, the story she tells refers to actions she took before she held that federal position," the correction reads. 

Breitbart has been unapologetic in defending his decision to post the original edited video, blaming the NAACP in a recent interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity for having picked a fight with the tea party. 

"I could care less about Shirley Sherrod, to be honest with you. This is not about Shirley Sherrod," Breitbart told Hannity. "This is about tarring the American people and the tea party movement with the false charge of racism." 

The NAACP has since apologized and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has offered Sherrod a new job, one she is considering whether she wants to accept.


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