Today I was a part of a discussion about editing news stories in order to portray a specific view point, or creating biased news. We all know that this is nothing that hasn't been done before, however, it's becoming a damning part of the Trump administration that is further distinguishing the divide among people in the USA. Specifically, it is creating a divide between the poorly informed conservatives who watch Fox News and believe everything that President Trump says, and the enlightened public who know well enough that there are multiple perspectives to every story. This isn't a new problem, however, and has been a consistent one for quite some time now. ACORN and Planned Parenthood are just a few organizations that have been portrayed in a poor light thanks to precise video editing and selective clipping.
For example, in 2009, ACORN was put on the spot when Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe went to the offices of ACORN pretending to be a pimp and a prostitute and secretly videotaped their entire interaction while there. They heavily edited the videos to make it look like the employees at ACORN were helping the two begin their own underaged sex trade and prostitution business. However, when the full un-edited version of the tapes were released, it showed that they actually went into the organization saying that they needed housing and were having trouble finding the financial assistance due to their work choice. They fooled everybody.
Another example is the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood that occurred in 2015. A video was released showing an interaction between a Planned Parenthood employee and a fake tissue broker attempting to make a deal. However, the video was edited to show that Planned Parenthood was illegally selling aborted fetus tissue in order to make a profit. The un-edited video showed that the "profit" was at most $100, which is the normal price to require in order to make up for delivery fees, packaging fees, etc.
Comparing other outlets and news sources can help us avoid these outrageous situations altogether, but it's up to us to inform ourselves and want the truth.
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