The Propaganda FilesCNN's 'Enhanced' Zimmerman 911 Audio Heard a Racial Slur — Then 'Cold'
CNN aired an audio-enhanced version of George Zimmerman's 911 call and its reporter said it certainly sounded like Zimmerman used a racial slur about Trayvon Martin.
The apparent slur supported the narrative that the Martin shooting was a racially motivated hate crime.
What was reported
CNN aired an audio-enhanced version of George Zimmerman's 911 call and its reporter said it certainly sounded like Zimmerman used a racial slur about Trayvon Martin.
What actually happened
On Anderson Cooper 360, Gary Tuchman presented an isolated clip from CNN's audio suite and said the slur was what he heard, while noting it was not definitive; the segment fueled national claims of a racially motivated killing. About two weeks later CNN re-enhanced the audio with a different engineer and Tuchman said the word now sounded like 'cold,' acknowledging the network's earlier reading. Other experts later suggested 'punks.'
The proof
CNN's own April 4, 2012 AC360 transcript has Tuchman saying the word appears to be 'cold' and acknowledging the earlier slur interpretation.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
CNN's 'Enhanced' Zimmerman 911 Audio Heard a Racial Slur — Then 'Cold' — Retracted. CNN's own April 4, 2012 AC360 transcript has Tuchman saying the word appears to be 'cold' and acknowledging the earlier slur interpretation. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/cnn-zimmerman-911-slur-enhanced-audio-2012/
Original reporting
- Mediaite (secondary): CNN isolates audio on alleged slur in 911 callhttps://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/cnn-isolates-audio-on-alleged-%E2%80%98fcking-cns%E2%80%99-trayvon-martin-911-call
Corrections, findings & records
- CNN AC360 transcript, April 4, 2012 (re-enhanced audio)https://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1204/04/acd.01.html
- Fox News: Enhanced audio casts doubt about use of racial slurhttps://www.foxnews.com/us/enhanced-audio-of-george-zimmerman-911-call-casts-doubt-about-use-of-racial-slur
- TheBlaze: CNN enhances call again, reporter now doubts slurhttps://www.theblaze.com/news/2012/04/05/cnn-enhances-zimmerman-911-call-again-and-reporter-now-doubts-racial-slur-used
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Mediaite (secondary): CNN isolates audio on alleged slur in 911 callhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/cnn-isolates-audio-on-alleged-%E2%80%98fcking-cns%E2%80%99-trayvon-martin-911-call