The "News" CBS Style

 I listened to CBS News this morning.  It was an adventure in propaganda.  In 30 seconds, the reporter said the following:

1.  Jacob Blake had been shot seven times in the back.

2.  There was a "riot" in Portland as a caravan of "Trump supporters" confronted BLM "protesters".

3.  A man was shot in Portland last night.  He had received a shotgun blast to the chest.  It was "unknown" if the shooting had anything to do with the riots.

So why is this propaganda?  After all, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back.  The reason is that there was no context.  As time has gone by, the facts surrounding Blake have come out.  We now know the following:

a.  Blake's ex girlfriend had been threatened by him and was so afraid of him that she obtained a restraining order from the local courts that barred Blake from approaching her.  On the day of the shooting, Blake had come to her house and she had called the police for help.  She told police that Blake was armed.  The police responded to her call.

b.  When the police arrived on the scene, they found Blake outside the girlfriend's house.  He refused to leave and became belligerent.  In order to subdue Blake, the police shot him with a Taser.

c.  When the police went to take Blake away, he struggled and broke free.  He ran to his car and reached inside.  Police - who had been told that Blake was armed -- shot him before he could pull out a gun.  It turned out that there was no gun inside, only a knife.  The reason he was shot "in the back" is because he had turned around to reach into the car.

So, Blake was being removed for violating a court order and for threatening his ex girlfriend.  He resisted arrest.  Police had been told he was armed and he got shot when he appeared to be going for a weapon.  That provides a lot more context than just police shot him seven times in the back.  Does it make the shooting justified?  We don't know; the people making that determination have to consider what the police officers say and what Blake himself has to say.  

And how about the "riot" in Portland when the "Trump supporters" confronted BLM "protesters"?  That's the first time I've hear CBS call anything happening in Portland a "riot" rather than a "protest".  When these same BLM people tried to seal the doors of a police station with concrete and then burn the building down with police inside, that was a "protest" in CBS lingo.  Once there were Trump supporters involved, it became a "riot".  Of course, the Trump supporters drove through Portland in cars festooned with flags and signs while honking horns.  They didn't burn anything.  They didn't loot any stores, They didn't beat up any passersby.  But to CBS, that was "riot".  When BLM commited arson, looting, vandalism, assault and attempted murder, that was a "protest".

And how about the guy who was killed last night in Portland.  CBS just has no knowledge if it was related to the "riot".  But we know that the guy was wearing a distinctive hat that many in the Trump supporter caravan were wearing.  We know that there's video of the guy being shot.  We know that just prior to his being shot, a voice on the video can be heard yelling that this guy had been hassling people all night and then yelling "get him."  Then came the shot that killed him.  That's pretty clear evidence that the fellow was shot in connection with the "riot" by BLM supporters.  CBS, however, which jumps to conclusions on everything else, just can't make the connection.

Look, I don't know everything that happened last night in Portland.  I do know that the CBS News report on the subject was not factual or even close to factual.  It's disgraceful that CBS still calls itself a news organization rather than just propaganda.