NBC News is under fire after editing the 911 call made from the scene of the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting, taking out the crucial parts in which the caller told the cops Bryant was trying to stab them. In addition to this edit, NBC seemed to avoid emphasizing the attacker wielding the knife and trying to stab someone. NBC said Bryant was “threatening” someone with a knife, rather than saying she was “attacking” someone.
The portion of the 911 call that was aired on NBC only used the portion of the call in which the woman says “We need a police officer here now”, disregarding the actual dialogue describing the dangerous, urgent nature of the situation.
In stark contrast, CBS Evening News showed the important part of the 911 call. "These grown girls over here trying to fight us, trying to stab us," the caller says.
They also slow down the video and zoom in on the knife in the attacker's hand. pic.twitter.com/izvXaUH6Ki— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) April 22, 2021
The criticism really began when other news sites such as CBS and ABC aired much more accurate representations of the dangerous situation that had occurred and the important action taken by the police officer to save another’s life. The other broadcasts included the parts of the call in which the woman told the police the attacker was trying to stab them, indicating a clear and immediate danger to their lives.
This comes just about a week after CBS was accused of intentionally cropping police bodycam video to hide teen Adam Toledo holding a gun, creating a false narrative of the reason for the shooting and making it appear the boy was unarmed.