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NBC Report Criticized (for Being 100% Accurate)

Dated: June 19, 2016 by Sharyl Attkisson 4 Comments

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[Above: NBC's Kerry Sanders reporting on a Florida alligator hunt]

The following is a news commentary

When someone goes after a reporter these days, it’s not always easy to figure out what’s behind it. The strange attack of NBC’s recent, fascinating report on alligators in Florida falls into that category.

The NBC reporter, Kerry Sanders, has covered alligator-related news for many years in Florida. Sanders and I--like many Floridians--have seen thousands of gators, gotten to know trappers, gone along on midnight alligator hunts, watched gators get pulled out of backyard pools and golf course hazards, and reported on alligator attacks of animals and people. I can’t think of a journalist more qualified than Sanders to report on alligators in the aftermath of the tragic attack at Disney.

Kyle Drennan
"Senior News Analyst" Kyle Drennan criticized NBC's factual, accurate report.

But then came a bizarre Internet blog criticizing Sanders’ report. The “headline” of the critique was misleading: “Clueless NBC Reporter Mistakes Frog for Alligator.” In fact, the author of the blog post, “Senior News Analyst” Kyle Drennan, had wildly misrepresented a portion of the report in which Sanders asked a gator trapper if a sound they heard was made by an alligator; the trapper answered it was a bullfrog.

Drennan obviously hasn’t the background or expertise to know this, but it's not unusual to mistake the sound of a bullfrog for that of an alligator since they make similar sounds. If Drennan had paid attention to Sanders' report, he would have heard recorded alligator sounds which--yep--sound a lot like bullfrogs. And that’s the weird part: A blogger who seems to know nothing of the subject, plays the role of critic of a reporter who’s actually something of an expert on the subject. But to step back for a moment, it seems bizarre that Drennan took time and effort to try to controversialize a small moment in a non-controversial report.

Drennan went on to refer to Sanders as “melodramatic” and “overeager,” and then concluded, “this is not the first time a report from Sanders has been marred by his own overeagerness.”

The thing is, Sanders’ report had no melodrama. Only someone who has no idea what alligators in Florida are like, would characterize perfectly factual reporting as “melodrama.”

READ: MRC Criticism of NBC Report

There's plenty of legitimate fodder to criticize the news media over. That makes it all the more mystifying as to why a self-appointed media critic would go to such lengths to find fault with a story that had nothing wrong with it.

Watch the NBC video and see what you think. It's a fascinating story. You'll see Florida trappers catch a 13-foot long big boy. Pretty amazing... and dangerous. Like Sanders reported, for safety's sake, it's best (and quite realistic) to act as if there's a gator in just about every fresh body of water in Florida.

A Florida gator trapper captures a 13-foot long monster--NBC News
A Florida gator trapper captures a 13-foot long monster--NBC News

WATCH: NBC Kerry Sanders Alligator Report

Maybe you can figure out why Drennan targeted Sanders with such weak ammunition. I can’t.


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Sharyl Attkisson

About Sharyl Attkisson

Emmy-Award Winning Investigative Journalist, New York Times Best Selling Author, Host of Sinclair's Full Measure

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarRho says

    June 20, 2016 at 2:00 pm

    Touche' ! Well said, Ms.Attkisson..!!

    Reply
  2. AvatarNicole says

    June 20, 2016 at 2:34 pm

    I live on a swamp in Florida, and on summer nights, I hear alligators and bullfrogs on a constant basis. I can attest to the fact that it's difficult apart the sounds they make.

    Reply
  3. AvatarMarco Moreno says

    June 21, 2016 at 12:39 am

    Just wanted to point out a typo: Is it Kyle Drennan or Brennan? It's spelled the latter three times on the page, but elsewhere as the former.

    If only you could relate to having been irrationally attacked, Sharyl! 🙂

    Thanks for all you do and keep up the great work!!!

    Reply
    • sattkissonsattkisson says

      June 21, 2016 at 11:33 pm

      Darn automatic spell correct. It is Drennan but each time I type it, it changed to Brennan. Thank you. --ed

      Reply

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