Two recent articles caught my eye today. Both presented a balanced view and admitted to the facts in a way previously only in the blogosphere.
One, by Dylan Stableford of The Cutline (featured on Yahoo) reads, in part:
“With a single punch,” the Orlando Sentinel, citing police sources, reported Monday, “Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer … climbed on top of [him] and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times, leaving him bloody and battered.”
“That is the account Zimmerman gave police,” the paper said, “and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say.”
Zimmerman’s attorney, Craig Sonner, says that Zimmerman acted in self-defense and is not a racist as some have portrayed him.
“I think we need to let the investigation come forward and let all the facts in this case come out,” Sonner said on the “Today” show. “I think it’s going to tell a different story than the way it’s been related and portrayed in the media.”…
“The media is getting the Trayvon Martin story wrong,” Michael Brendan Dougherty wrote on BusinessInsider.com, comparing it to the 2006 Duke lacrosse case, in which three members of the lacrosse team were accused of rape, resulting in a media firestorm and public outcry. The accuser’s case unraveled, and the charges were eventually dropped.
“Oh how little we have learned,” David Shane wrote on PolicyMic.com. The media has rushed to judgment yet again. Now, it’s quite possible that Zimmerman is guilty of everything his worst foes accuse him of. There is plenty about this case that troubles me. But that’s exactly the point—I don’t know. Neither does anyone else, and both the scope and tone of the media coverage ought to reflect that fact.”
Another story (also on Yahoo) reads:
“The media has been quick to demonize George, but Trayvon Martin was no angelic boy walking,” Meza said.
Zimmerman’s attorney, Craig Sonner, has said in more than one interview that his client’s nose was broken during the fight with Martin.
The Orlando Sentinel has reported that Martin grabbed Zimmerman’s head and banged it several times against the sidewalk. Sonner said the gash on the back of Zimmerman’s head probably was serious enough for stitches, but he waited too long for treatment so the wound was already healing.
Zimmerman said he began crying for help; Martin’s family thinks it was their son who was crying out. Witness accounts differ and 911 tapes in which the voices are heard are not clear. A statement from Sanford police said the newspaper’s story was “consistent” with evidence turned over to prosecutors.
Martin was at least 6-feet, several inches taller than the 5-foot-9 Zimmerman. Meza said Martin was not the child he appears to be in photos flashed across television and newspapers.
But I have a nagging suspicion, given their track-record, that the main motivation for this backtracking is the realization that Zimmerman was not white. When organizations such as the Associated Press, Yahoo and the New York Times start reporting such incidents fairly even when whites are involved, at that point I might believe that they’re repenting from their evil ways.

























