Sherrod urges journalists to do journalism that matters San Diego (Forum Report) - Shirley Sherrod, “a fired former director” of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, urged journalists to consistently and extensively cover the issues that matter to common people, minority farmers and poor rural people at the National Association of Black Journalist (NABJ) convention on July 29.
Sherrod also informed the journalists that she would file a lawsuit against a popular conservative Internet blogger who posted her comments out of context on the blog, which resulted in the loss of her job. [Play the following video clip of the special session with Shirley Sherrod, Source: NABJ Convention]
Sherrod, in a special discussion session at the NABJ convention, answered the questions of three panelists, CNN anchor Don Lemon, NBC Nightly News digital reporter Mara Schiavocampo and St. Petersburg media/TV critic Eric Deggans; she also responded to a number of questions from the audience and journalists covering the discussion session.
Sherrod became a newsmaker after a video clip posted on a conservative blog suggesting that Sherrod was “racially biased.” The blogger later posted the full video of Sherrod’s full comments, when Sherrod resigned “under pressure from USDA leaders and President Barack Obama’s administration” (nabjconvention.org).
Sherrod said she was always an ordinary worker. She firmly believes that what happened to her was nothing but an act of “racism.” One misinformation posted by a blogger and fuelled afterward by a particular cable channel has affected not only her life but also her family, she lamented.
Though some other news media initially reported on the basis of incomplete video footage posted on the blog, she did not blame all except Fox.
Natelege Whaley reports for nabjconvention.org that Sherrod’s comments came after an internal investigation by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) revealed that her comments were taken out of context, and she had used the example in a speech where she spoke against racism.
