Katie Couric Compared To Reality TV Star After Gun Advocacy Documentary Manipulative Editing
Since Katie Couric stood by her producer’s manipulative edits on the Under the Gun documentary, the NRA has called for her to be fired. When the issue was initially raised, the right thing for Couric to do would have been to apologize, re-edit the film, and present the interview as it occurred in real-time.
Katie interviewed gun rights advocates, and she asked some pointed questions, noted The Inquisitr.
“If there are no background checks, how do you prevent? I know how you all are going to answer this, but I’m asking anyway. If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?”
Instead of allowing the interview to unfold naturally, it was edited to make it appear that questions Couric posed to members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, left the participants dumbfounded and unable to answer. But that’s not true; the clip was purposefully inserted from a prior time in the interview when VCDL members were quietly reflecting. It has also been revealed that Katie’s producer, Stephanie Soechtig, along with other staff members purchased guns across state lines illegally, per The Federalist.
Katie Couric taking blame for doctored gun documentaryhttps://t.co/fGL1LE6Dcb
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) June 1, 2016
Many, including myself, feel strongly about gun control in light of mass shootings, violence in major cities, and terrorism. However, lying to get a point across is not acceptable, and a lie can be spoken from the mouth or demonstrated through a pause, albeit one that never occurred, inserted at exactly the right moment.
Take a minute and sign up here: https://t.co/eJyUFV8JGp to help us spread the word: #FireKatie#UndertheGun
— NRA (@NRA) June 1, 2016
Of course, the NRA is using the situation to call for Katie’s firing. Anyone who calls for any changes to current gun laws isn’t a friend of the NRA’s and hates the Second Amendment — if you listen to the rants. The mantra has been chanted for a long time, but that’s not the point I’m making here.
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Related Inquisitr Articles:
Katie Couric Film Allegedly Broke Serious Federal Law: Gun Advocates Swarm
‘Under The Gun’ Host Katie Couric, And Producer, Defend Manipulative Editing
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In USA Today, Jonah Goldberg, senior editor of the National Review, a conservative online magazine, compares Couric to a reality TV star versus a serious journalist. The comparison is not without merit because reality TV shows usually have one main star or several stars, and the content, although it appears to be authentic is always edited and manipulated to entertain the audience. And the viewers, on some level, always knows that events, actions, and incidents could never have transpired in such an exciting, entertaining manner, and those who are astute will acknowledge this. Others who seek mindless pleasure will be carried along on the reality TV ride, fully engaged, and sometimes, deceiving themselves into believing that there was no editing.
There was no reason for Katie Couric to not have presented all the interviews in Under the Gun as they organically occurred. Previously, she said the pause was inserted to give the audience time to think. It was a poor excuse, and the audience who watches this type of documentary is an analytical one. They don’t expect their news and fact-based programs to be comparable to a reality show. Almost everyone can appreciate a good reality TV show, but that doesn’t mean that an audience who is engaged doesn’t fully understand that to make the plot flow, situations had to be shifted, and occurrences sometimes had to be re-enacted.
When the incident first came to light, Katie Couric should have apologized and followed through on the re-edits. Instead, she claimed to be proud of an act of blatant deception and to act as though nothing extraordinary happened. But in reality, it did. Personally, I expected more from Couric, and I’m certain many others did, too. She gave a halfhearted apology, but only after she came under fire, which reminds me of some of the characters I’ve seen on reality TV. Katie’s apology is convenient but doesn’t resound as genuine. Frankly, Goldberg made some valid points.
[Image via Mike Windle/Getty]
