Morning Roar: Media Never Fails To Pick Cases That Divide, FBI Director James Comey Pushes To Stop Encryption, RT Anchor Interview Redacted By CNN
Media Never Fails To Pick Cases That DivideWith so many clear-cut cases throughout the country of police officers killing or maiming innocent black civilians, why does the media always choose to focus on ambiguous cases?Prior to Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Trayvon Martin’s death at the hands of George Zimmerman dominated the news cycle. Like the Brown/Wilson case, the Martin/Zimmerman case was anything but clear-cut.Why is the media choosing to cover these ambiguous cases when there are many cases that provide a clearer picture of potentially racially charged police abuse? Why don’t these cases gain traction in the media?One that comes to mind immediately is the suffocation death of Eric Garner by five New York City Police Officers in July. Garner was attacked by the officers for selling cigarettes. This crime certainly should have warranted the media’s attention. Another one that comes to mind is the recent tragedy in Cleveland where a cop shot and killed a twelve-year-old boy because he mistook his airsoft gun for a firearm. This only happened a week ago, but if news patterns continue as per usual, this story will be buried.Reason ran an article today that pointed out Michael Brown’s killer, Darren Wilson, would have been acquitted of charges if they were brought. This was the article’s conclusion:
Wilson's biggest advantage in a trial would have been one enjoyed by every criminal defendant: The prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. With ambiguous physical evidence, conflicting witness accounts, and no conclusive answers to crucial questions such as who initiated the violence, whether Wilson fired at Brown as he fled, and whether Brown was trying to surrender or trying to attack Wilson, it is hard to imagine how the state could meet that test.
Why was this case built up in the media?This is just conjecture, but it is my opinion that these ambiguous cases are chosen because they can more easily be used to create a divide. This country is run by the politics of division. When the evidence is so muddled, it is easy for people to see the truth on either side. It becomes easy for people to become passionate about their side, because they see so many stacking up in opposition on the other side. It very quickly turns into an “us vs. them” situation.That’s my two cents.FBI Director James Comey Pushes To Stop Companies From Encrypting Users’ DataWe’ve been down the encryption rabbit hole before. In an October edition of The Morning Roar we discussed the FBI Director’s fear mongering over the encryption of Apple devices. Now James Comey is back in the ear of the White House and Congress after the mid-term elections. He is pushing even harder for legislation to halt encryption.From Defense One:
Here’s how the fight over encryption took form. In September, Apple announced that its most recent operating system update for the iPhone, the iOS 8, would encrypt phone data.“On devices running iOS 8, your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes and reminders is placed under the protection of your passcode….Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data… So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants,” Apple says in a notice on the privacy portion of its website.Google followed, announcing an encryption update for its Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system. As Yahoo Tech’s Rob Pegoraro reports, that will affect the Nexus 6 first and other phones soon after.Upon news of the announcement, Comey responded by condemning encryption, first speaking out at a Brookings Institution event, saying that Apple and Google’s decision was going to take the country to a “very dark place” where law enforcement “misses out” on crucial evidence to stop terrorists and gather evidence against criminals. Comey approached the president and, along with representatives from the Justice Department, briefed members of the House in a classified session. Legislatively, the lawmakers could easily block Apple and Google from offering encryption by updating the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which mandates that telephone companies like AT&T and Verizon build backdoors into their networks to allow taping. But the 1994 law doesn’t apply to companies like Google and Apple or other newer networks, so an update to the law could force the companies to allow law enforcement easier access to user data.
Anchor Interview Redacted By CNN An interview between CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and RT’s Anissa Naouai turned very tense on Friday. Naouai launched an assault on CNN’s coverage of international affairs after repeatedly having her own and RT’s impartiality questioned by the CNN anchor.Naouai’s feisty defense of RT and attack on CNN did not make it to air on CNN. Ben Swann interviewed Naouai to follow up on the situation and was able to play back Naouai’s comments, because they were picked up by the RT feed. The video can be seen below.Source: Ben Swann’s WebsiteAnd for more on Ben Swann's great reporting, check out his interview with Marc Clair on the Lions of Liberty Podcast!The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday right here at Lions of Liberty!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
