There’s a slight language (and racism) warning to this video. Though I assume that unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve already seen it.
Opinion on this whole situation – where a 19 year old gives a fake eyewitness account to a TV camera after a non-fatal shooting – is pretty split. I’m in the “I think this was a hilarious way to teach the media a lesson about verifying sources and not looking for a sensationalised quote at all costs” camp.
Seriously, reporting of this sort of shooting with “on the spot, live to air” broadcasts – or even rapid fire report filing – lends itself to this sort of treatment. And I hope she (Clare Werbeloff) rides this 15 minutes of fame as far as it takes her. The media deserve it – and the associated condemnation/celebration being carried out in print and over the airwaves just perpetuates the problem and justifies the behaviour.
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Yeah I thought it was kinda funny too. She was stupid, but I think all teenagers have their stupid moments. I can think of a lot of people who, at that age, would have thought it’d be funny to make up a story for a news crew at 3am. She probably never thought it would actually make it onto the net. It’s the same as that UK student who made up that quote about the composer who just died and put it on wikipedia to see how many media outlets would pick it up. Dozens did, although wikipedia pulled the quote after 4 or 5 hours. And only one apologised when contacted and told it was a made-up quote.
Although, so soon after a shooting, it’s difficult to verify what’s true and what’s not. It would have become clear after a day or so though, and you’d think the video would have disappeared off the website by then.