Updated: 08:16 PM EDT NASCAR Furious With NBC Over 'Dateline' Segment Story Targeted Martinsville Track to Gauge Levels of Anti-Muslim Sentiment By JENNA FRYER, AP Sports CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 5) - American stock car racing's governing body called a network television news magazine "outrageous" on Wednesday, saying it tried to provoke anti-Muslim reactions from spectators at last week's race for a story about growing U.S. sentiment against Islam. The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing said the NBC network's "Dateline NBC" confirmed it was sending Muslim-looking men to a race, along with a camera crew to film fans' reactions. The NBC crew was "apparently on site in Martinsville, Virginia, walked around and no one bothered them," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday. "It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC's stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news," Poston said. "Any legitimate journalist in America should be embarrassed by this stunt. The obvious intent by NBC was to evoke reaction, and we are confident our fans won't take the bait," he said. NASCAR grew out of the rural southern United States and its history of modifying street automobiles outrun authorities in transporting illegal alcohol. Because of its southern origins, NASCAR has been cricitized for its fans displaying numerous flags of the Confederacy from the American Civil War in the 19th century, an emblem many associate with racism. "Dateline NBC" also has been criticized in the past. In 1992, it aired a critical story about fuel tanks on a brand of pickup trucks, using video of the tanks exploding on impact. However, the network later apologized for using toy rockets to ignite the explosion. NASCAR is in the final year of a broadcasting agreement with NBC Sports. "'Dateline' is looking into this story," NBC said in a statement. "We were intrigued by the results of a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll and other articles regarding increasing anti-Muslim sentiments in the United States. "It's very early on in our newsgathering process, but be assured we will be visiting a number of locations across the country and are confident that our reporting team is pursuing this story in a fair manner," it said. http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/sports/article.adp?id=20060405195109990010&cid=
Nothing happened. NBC didn't have a story. http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/opinion/04/06/cross.nbc.dateline/index.html http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/04/07/jjohnson.kkahne.nbc.reactions/index.html No insults to record. No racist comments made. Once again, NBC finds itself caught trying to 'create' news where none existed. NASCAR fans care more about the color and number of the T-Shirt worn, rather than, the color of another fan's skin. - Spydertrader
Right. Nascar fans proved to not be biggots. And as AAAintTheBeltway mentioned, if they had been wearing Kurt Bush (car #2) apparel... Well, that would have been a different story. They would have been verbally abused, and then some.
This is contemptible. Why is the title of this thread 'Is NASCAR anti-Muslim'?? The story quoted is about the debate surrounding a network's apparently manufactured news story. What does it have to do with NASCAR being anti-Muslim?? There is nothing mentioned about any negative reactions to the planted 'Muslim-looking men'. If you title a thread 'Is NASCAR anti-Muslim', do you not have to include something that has to do with an event or statement that allegedly reveals an anti-Muslim bias on the part of a NASCAR participant? A typical Z piece of obfuscation. Z exemplifies intellectual dishonesty with almost every post she makes.
Really, if all they did was send some Muslim-looking men over there, who did nothing but behave as if they were also spectators, and there was a crew around to film it, then there's nothing more going here than a little science. Ethnomethodology I believe.
Interesting that they story says they used "Muslim-looking men" but did not resort to employing actual Muslims. I wonder if these Muslim-looking men were wearing a turban? Or did they just have jackets with "IROC" on them..... Everyone knows them A-rabs love them IROC's.....
They probably had medium shade skin and black hair. That's enough to make many believe they might be Muslim. Knowing that's what most people believe, it's a fair tactic. I'm thinking even the turban would not get a reaction from anyone in that crowd, unless it was blocking their view, or until they had gotten good and drunk. Kudos to the NASCAR crowd, by the way.
The very concept of "Muslim-looking" as compared to "Arabic-looking" or "Semetic" is intesting. Muslim looking would reflect a religious garb in my opinion, as being Muslim is a product of a religious belief, not a genetic condition. So I wonder if NBC had these people dress as Muslims, with turban, white clothing, etc. I am guessing they were simply employing people who looked Arabic, not "Muslim-looking." What these "Muslim-looking" men were wearing may have had a lot to do with the reaction, or non-reactions....
Your guess would be incorrect. http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004934.htm Original Story Broke at the link below. Additional details now available through AP and other news outlets. http://digitalright.blogspot.com/2006/04/nbc-fabricating-news-againnow.html - Spydertrader