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An article on the Florida speech from Tuesday originally labeled Spencer a white nationalist, but was changed to “white rights activist” after his speech was canceled by the university.
"White Nationalist" Richard Spencer becomes "White Rights Activist" after being denied an event at the University of Florida. pic.twitter.com/Gi6RqXAJTV
— Dusty (@DustinGiebel) August 17, 2017
Twelve hours later, CNN wrote another update and changed the headline again, describing Spencer as a white supremacist. Dusty Geibel, a freelance journalist and former writer for the political site Heat Street, posted photos of the two different headlines after a tweet from Andrew Lawrence of the progressive media website Media Matters mentioned the articles. It immediately sparked complaints toward CNN.
Looks like another case of rebrandermonium.
— GenXtremist (@GenXtremist) August 17, 2017
Took a whole four days from the nazis murdering someone for the media to start normalizing them for cheap clicks again.
— Weedlewobble (@weedlewobble) August 17, 2017
"NAZI" is really more efficient/truthful here but CNN gonna CNN.
— Hoag in the House (@HoagML) August 17, 2017
Shameful. The "right to self-name" is not an absolute, and certainly shouldn't apply to white supremacists.
— Steven (@nj_linguist) August 17, 2017
@jaketapper please check into this. I'm sure MSM wants to do the right thing.
— Diane Andrick (@HeyImjustsayin) August 17, 2017
However, past events indicate otherwise. Your move
“I thought there was no way this is real,” Geibel said. “Calling him a white rights activist, first of all, fighting for rights is noble, that’s how that term would be used most of the time. You can soften some people on the right, like Ann Coulter and others, but Spencer is different from them. You can’t soften Richard Spencer.”
Geibel said he reached out to CNN and Brian Stelter, the host of the network’s media news show “Reliable Sources,” but had yet to receive a response. CNN also hadn’t posted a response on its website or Twitter account as of 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Spencer is considered a prominent member of the alternative right, a once loose association of groups that dismissed mainstream conservativism and the Republican party, and united behind the ideas of ‘white identity,’ according to the Southern Party Law Center. A quote in USA Today described most members of the alt right as atheist and millennial, male and college educated. Recordings of Spencer giving a Nazi salute and leading a crowd in, “Hail Trump,” were released by The Atlantic magazine in December.
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