After it was revealed that NBC selectively edited the recording of a call between George Zimmerman and a 911 dispatcher in March, the network apologized and fired three staffers. Apparently Zimmerman wasn’t satisfied by the results of NBC’s internal investigation, because according to the Post, his attorneys are about to file a complaint against the network. “The suit will be filed imminently against NBC and its news executives,” says a source. “The network’s legal department has put everybody in the news department involved with this incident on notice, telling them not to comment.”
While the clip made it appear that Zimmerman said, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.” NBC left out the dispatcher’s question:
Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.
Dispatcher: Okay, and this guy — is he black, white, or Hispanic?
Zimmerman: He looks black.
Sources told the New York Times that the omission was a “mistake, not a purposeful act,” but at least three staffers were fired from NBC. The suit is said to name news president Steve Capus and correspondent Ron Allen, who reported the story on Today and NBC Nightly News, but there’s no word on whether other NBC anchors and producers will be included.
