Using the scenario below, answer the following:

Do you believe media outlets should receive increased scrutiny when they report stories that involve race? Explain your position.

SCENARIO:

Before she was asked to resign in July 2010 for making racist remarks, Shirley Sherrod was one of the highest-ranking black employees in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), serving nearly a year as the head of USDAs Rural Development office in Georgia. Sherrod is hardly the first high-ranking employee who has been asked to resign from a position. She is, perhaps, the only one whose resignation was the direct result of inaccurate and misleading media coverage.

Sherrods troubles began when Andrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger, posted a video clip on his website containing remarks Sherrod made at the NAACP Freedom Fund banquet held earlier during the year. In her remarks, Sherrod told a story about how she had once provided just enough assistance to a white farmer who risked losing his farm. She admitted that her reluctance to help the farmer was initially driven by his race. After all, many black farmers in the region had already lost their farms. Sherrods story didnt end there. She went on to tell the banquet audience how she came to the realization that the issue was not one of race, but of class. Instead of Sherrods remarks demonstrating how she used race to deny white farmers government assistance, her remarks demonstrated just the opposite.

Breitbarts heavily edited video clip did not show Sherrods complete remarks, however. As a result, Sherrod was accused of being a reverse racist, using her power at the USDA to advance her racist agenda. What followed was a type of warfare among cable news outlets that have become symbolic of the 24-hour news culture in this country. By the time the unedited video clip was widely released, it was too late for Sherrod to get her job back. The damage had already been done.