We have talked about the issues facing Black media extensively. It brings to mind, issues we’ve pointed out like News One’s editorial staff advertising specific brands to achieve social justice, only to find out that what seemed like a harmless symbolic gesture was, in fact, self-defeating.
We’ve also blown the whistle on supposed Black media outlets, like GlobalGrind (a Russell Simmons cash cow), that continue to use the Justice for Trayvon Facebook Fan Page as a front to usher readers to their ad-profit-driven site. Nevertheless, readers continue to frequent these sites because they are the names most well known to them.
These issues, however, are merely symptoms of the REAL problem with Black media.
The Real Problem
Most, if not all, Black media today are secondary sources of information, masquerading as primary sources. In other words, they get their news from the same mainstream media outlets as you do, then they report it as if they can speak with the same confidence as a primary news source–one who got their information straight from the originator of the information.
Sure, they may have an occasional one-on-one interview (usually entertainment-related) or other story they researched on their own, but most of what you’re getting from them is reworded, rehashed, unoriginal, unattributed stories and ideas they pass off as their own. This is the LIE that Black media has become so comfortable with telling.
And so, when a reader goes to get information from a source they feel they can trust, it’s hit or miss.
A Recent Example From The Trayvon Martin Case Involving GlobalGrind and Kulture Kritic
We have worked extensively on obtaining all evidence related to the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case, and we have reviewed all that is there (except the phone calls we haven’t gotten around to yet). We are sure that most of the popular Black media has not reviewed everything that has been released–most certainly not first hand.
This is why it’s ironic, to say the least, that in his article on Black Agenda Report, “The Black Press Is Dead. Get Over It,” that Bruce A. Dixon quoted Yvette Carnell saying “so let’s put them on blast, shall we…” in reference to those in the Black press who are responsible for this god-awful truth (see image below).
Regarding the Trayvon Martin case, the Black press had done nothing more than report on what the mainstream media has already reported, yet they claim to be reliable sources on the case. They have not scoured the evidence in detail and reported anything of significance first hand, yet each Black popular news outlet claims to offer the most comprehensive coverage of the case or, ridiculously, the number one source of Trayvon Martin coverage. It is clear that GlobalGrind is one of the most egregious perpetrators of the suicide of responsible Black Media.
Michael Skolnik And The GlobalGrind Connection
On 7/17/2012, GlobalGrind posted an article, written by Michael Skolnik, claiming that it contained exclusive content, when it was really a glorified copy-and-paste job from another site, embellished with the claim that, “Yesterday, the Special Prosecutor in the George Zimmerman case released 149 jail house phone calls that Mr. Zimmerman made while being held on bail in April of this year in Seminole County Jail. Last night, GlobalGrind scoured through all of them, trying to decipher the coded language that George uses in his conversations with his family and close friends.”
So, here we have GlobalGrind posing as a primary source of exclusive information in the Trayvon Martin case, saying they listened to all of the calls, when we know that they didn’t listen to all of the calls. How do we know? It starts with the identification of the call numbers–Michael Skolnik specifically points out Calls #30 and #24 in his article.
If GlobalGrind had indeed obtained and listened to all of the over 24-hours-worth of calls, they would not refer to them by the call numbers Michael used in his article. The calls released to the press by the State of Florida were not labeled as such. The numbering system was done by Heit & Cheri of AxiomAmnesia.Com on a site set up for housing the evidence in the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case, TheyAlwaysGetAway.Com. Call #24 and Call #30 were the 24th and 30th files uploaded by Axiom Amnesia. How could anyone who acquired the calls independently number the calls the same, being that all 145 (cited as “149″ on GlobalGrind) calls were not immediately released at time of posting to TheyAlwaysGetAway.com?
Since we know that they did not obtain the calls independently, or first hand, we know that references to Call #30 and Call #24 were made by either Axiom Amnesia or someone who accessed Axiom Amnesia’s site. Frances Robles, The Miami Herald writer quoted by the Black media, was initially asked about call #30 via Twitter, she had no idea which call was “#30″ because she obtained the calls first hand and did not have any labeled as such.
This rips a whole in the claim by GlobalGrind that they actually listed to ALL of the calls! Even at the time of this article’s publishing, there are only 36 jailhouse calls parked at TheyAlwaysGetAway.Com–six which were released shortly after Shellie Zimmerman was charged with perjury. At best, GlobalGrind only listened to 30 calls–if they even did that.
Furthermore, we know that GlobalGrind either listened to the calls on TheyAlwaysGetAway.com presented by Axiom Amnesia, or worse yet, simply copied a claim from someone who listened to the calls on the Axiom Amnesia-supported site. Check out the image below to see side-by-side proof of the fraud that GlobalGrind perpetrated. The image on top is from GlobalGrind’s article, and the image on the bottom is a screenshot from the page where the audio is posted on TheyAlwaysGetAway.com.
Yvette Carnell And The Kulture Kritic Connection
Next, we see Yvette Carnell take to her blog, picking up on the popular story of the day (see image to the left)–how it looks like Sean Hannity and Jose Baez were intimately involved in the George Zimmerman case–and she decides to use GlobalGrind’s falsified story as her source.
When Yvette Carnell writes, “Global Grind, allegedly confirmed by a Miami Herald reporter,” you better believe that definitely is “allegedly confirmed.” Maybe what Rush’s site calls a confirmation is perhaps something they read by Robles. To further illustrate the laziness and lack of original reporting by sites like GlobalGrind, recently, Robles took to Twitter to call GlobalGrind out on their plagiarism for swiping content from The Miami Herald in a different GlobalGrind article.
We spoke with Frances Robles about these incidents involving GlobalGrind, and here’s what she told us:
I could not help but notice a striking similarity between my articles and those that appeared on Global Grind under the name “the Decider.” It was a problem, because people on twitter started accusing me of working for Global Grind under a false name.
I brought it up to the site’s editor, and he assured me that it won’t happen again and that in the future, Global Grind will provide a link to the Herald’s website.
It’s important for me for my editors to see how much web traffic these stories generate, and disappointing when that traffic never arrives because someone has borrowed liberally from our work. – Frances Robles
Readers Deserve Better From Media Sources
Before anyone steps up to defend Black media, saying “they’re not doing anything different than other media outlets,” we want to make it clear that this type of behavior on the part of ANY media outlet is unacceptable. Nevertheless, this article is about Black media specifically–we have so few legitimate sources of information for our community already, which is why it is an affront to us when the biggest names among our media are involved in such unscrupulous behavior.
The driving force in the actions of Black media is money, or profits. They rely on the mainstream media–and even Axiom Amnesia–to do the footwork to cut down on the time and effort required to report the news. Perhaps, they sit back and sip lattes and wait for others to dig up and report the happenings of the world, then copy & paste what was reported as a blockquote to fill content on their sites. Then, they add a few short paragraphs, reporting what they read elsewhere. And, voila!
After successfully pasting someone else’s work on their site and publishing, readers–people who want to be informed–visit their ad-ridden webpages, which converts to money from advertisers. They’ve cut down on time by skipping the process of sifting through information. They cut down on costs by thwarting all associated costs of investigating and reporting. Now, they can simply focus on what they really want–big bucks!
If you still cannot see this, then not only are the popular Black media a problem, so are you!
We Need Your Help To Keep All Of The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman Media/Docs Available For Everyone!
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As always, we urge you to view the evidence for yourself, instead of relying on the media to filter this information to you with their spin. In accordance with our goal of providing all of the files (audio, video, documents, etc.) associated with the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case, we’ve posted George Zimmerman’s statements to the police so that you can hear them for yourself.
Because we feel that it is important to go straight to the source for information, we have done exactly that. We house many files associated with the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin Case at a site we created strictly for that purpose, TheyAlwaysGetAway.Com. The site includes court documents, motions, pictures, audio, and video. Take a look for yourself, and stay in the know and abreast!
We have talked about the issues facing Black media extensively. It brings to mind, issues we’ve pointed out like News One’s editorial staff advertising specific brands to achieve social justice, only to find out that what seemed like a harmless symbolic gesture was, in fact, self-defeating.
We’ve also blown the whistle on supposed Black media outlets, like GlobalGrind (a Russell Simmons cash cow), that continue to use the Justice for Trayvon Facebook Fan Page as a front to usher readers to their ad-profit-driven site. Nevertheless, readers continue to frequent these sites because they are the names most well known to them.
These issues, however, are merely symptoms of the REAL problem with Black media.
The Real Problem
Most, if not all, Black media today are secondary sources of information, masquerading as primary sources. In other words, they get their news from the same mainstream media outlets as you do, then they report it as if they can speak with the same confidence as a primary news source–one who got their information straight from the originator of the information.
Sure, they may have an occasional one-on-one interview (usually entertainment-related) or other story they researched on their own, but most of what you’re getting from them is reworded, rehashed, unoriginal, unattributed stories and ideas they pass off as their own. This is the LIE that Black media has become so comfortable with telling.
And so, when a reader goes to get information from a source they feel they can trust, it’s hit or miss.
A Recent Example From The Trayvon Martin Case Involving GlobalGrind and Kulture Kritic
We have worked extensively on obtaining all evidence related to the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case, and we have reviewed all that is there (except the phone calls we haven’t gotten around to yet). We are sure that most of the popular Black media has not reviewed everything that has been released–most certainly not first hand.
This is why it’s ironic, to say the least, that in his article on Black Agenda Report, “The Black Press Is Dead. Get Over It,” that Bruce A. Dixon quoted Yvette Carnell saying “so let’s put them on blast, shall we…” in reference to those in the Black press who are responsible for this god-awful truth (see image below).
Regarding the Trayvon Martin case, the Black press had done nothing more than report on what the mainstream media has already reported, yet they claim to be reliable sources on the case. They have not scoured the evidence in detail and reported anything of significance first hand, yet each Black popular
newsoutlet claims to offer the most comprehensive coverage of the case or, ridiculously, the number one source of Trayvon Martin coverage. It is clear that GlobalGrind is one of the most egregious perpetrators of the suicide of responsible Black Media.Michael Skolnik And The GlobalGrind Connection
On 7/17/2012, GlobalGrind posted an article, written by Michael Skolnik, claiming that it contained exclusive content, when it was really a glorified copy-and-paste job from another site, embellished with the claim that, “Yesterday, the Special Prosecutor in the George Zimmerman case released 149 jail house phone calls that Mr. Zimmerman made while being held on bail in April of this year in Seminole County Jail. Last night, GlobalGrind scoured through all of them, trying to decipher the coded language that George uses in his conversations with his family and close friends.”
So, here we have GlobalGrind posing as a primary source of exclusive information in the Trayvon Martin case, saying they listened to all of the calls, when we know that they didn’t listen to all of the calls. How do we know? It starts with the identification of the call numbers–Michael Skolnik specifically points out Calls #30 and #24 in his article.
If GlobalGrind had indeed obtained and listened to all of the over 24-hours-worth of calls, they would not refer to them by the call numbers Michael used in his article. The calls released to the press by the State of Florida were not labeled as such. The numbering system was done by Heit & Cheri of AxiomAmnesia.Com on a site set up for housing the evidence in the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case, TheyAlwaysGetAway.Com. Call #24 and Call #30 were the 24th and 30th files uploaded by Axiom Amnesia. How could anyone who acquired the calls independently number the calls the same, being that all 145 (cited as “149″ on GlobalGrind) calls were not immediately released at time of posting to TheyAlwaysGetAway.com?
Since we know that they did not obtain the calls independently, or first hand, we know that references to Call #30 and Call #24 were made by either Axiom Amnesia or someone who accessed Axiom Amnesia’s site. Frances Robles, The Miami Herald writer quoted by the Black media, was initially asked about call #30 via Twitter, she had no idea which call was “#30″ because she obtained the calls first hand and did not have any labeled as such.
This rips a whole in the claim by GlobalGrind that they actually listed to ALL of the calls! Even at the time of this article’s publishing, there are only 36 jailhouse calls parked at TheyAlwaysGetAway.Com–six which were released shortly after Shellie Zimmerman was charged with perjury. At best, GlobalGrind only listened to 30 calls–if they even did that.
Furthermore, we know that GlobalGrind either listened to the calls on TheyAlwaysGetAway.com presented by Axiom Amnesia, or worse yet, simply copied a claim from someone who listened to the calls on the Axiom Amnesia-supported site. Check out the image below to see side-by-side proof of the fraud that GlobalGrind perpetrated. The image on top is from GlobalGrind’s article, and the image on the bottom is a screenshot from the page where the audio is posted on TheyAlwaysGetAway.com.
Yvette Carnell And The Kulture Kritic Connection
When Yvette Carnell writes, “Global Grind, allegedly confirmed by a Miami Herald reporter,” you better believe that definitely is “allegedly confirmed.” Maybe what Rush’s site calls a confirmation is perhaps something they read by Robles. To further illustrate the laziness and lack of original reporting by sites like GlobalGrind, recently, Robles took to Twitter to call GlobalGrind out on their plagiarism for swiping content from The Miami Herald in a different GlobalGrind article.
We spoke with Frances Robles about these incidents involving GlobalGrind, and here’s what she told us:
Readers Deserve Better From Media Sources
Before anyone steps up to defend Black media, saying “they’re not doing anything different than other media outlets,” we want to make it clear that this type of behavior on the part of ANY media outlet is unacceptable. Nevertheless, this article is about Black media specifically–we have so few legitimate sources of information for our community already, which is why it is an affront to us when the biggest names among our media are involved in such unscrupulous behavior.
The driving force in the actions of Black media is money, or profits. They rely on the mainstream media–and even Axiom Amnesia–to do the footwork to cut down on the time and effort required to report the news. Perhaps, they sit back and sip lattes and wait for others to dig up and report the happenings of the world, then copy & paste what was reported as a blockquote to fill content on their sites. Then, they add a few short paragraphs, reporting what they read elsewhere. And, voila!
After successfully pasting someone else’s work on their site and publishing, readers–people who want to be informed–visit their ad-ridden webpages, which converts to money from advertisers. They’ve cut down on time by skipping the process of sifting through information. They cut down on costs by thwarting all associated costs of investigating and reporting. Now, they can simply focus on what they really want–big bucks!
If you still cannot see this, then not only are the popular Black media a problem, so are you!
We Need Your Help To Keep All Of The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman Media/Docs Available For Everyone!
Please select one of the following subscription packages, or see information (to the right) on making a one-time donation of as little as $1:
Make a one-time donation of as little as $1 below to support independent media:
As always, we urge you to view the evidence for yourself, instead of relying on the media to filter this information to you with their spin. In accordance with our goal of providing all of the files (audio, video, documents, etc.) associated with the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case, we’ve posted George Zimmerman’s statements to the police so that you can hear them for yourself.
Because we feel that it is important to go straight to the source for information, we have done exactly that. We house many files associated with the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin Case at a site we created strictly for that purpose, TheyAlwaysGetAway.Com. The site includes court documents, motions, pictures, audio, and video. Take a look for yourself, and stay in the know and abreast!
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