Public Domain
We refuse to link back to Univision’s interview with George Zimmerman for a very simple reason: it was shameful. There is so much to be said about why the country’s largest Spanish-speaking network decided to interview a man whose only claim to fame was that he shot Trayvon Martin to death.
What Univision did last night was perhaps one of the most embarrassing and obviously sad ratings grabs in recent memory. So what if Zimmerman spoke Spanish, is this new strategy to get sympathy from his own community? If that is the case, he needs to move on. Also, did anyone else cringe when Univision ran a series of computer animated recreations of that night when Martin was killed? Yes, a TV news network actually spent money to commission animation artists to depict the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin. Talk about misusing your budget for “journalism.”
Univision is not the only one interviewing Zimmerman this week. CNN is next and then Fusion. We wonder if people will stay quiet about this one, given that when Zimmerman want to box for money, the Internet exploded and the celebrity match had to be cancelled. Speaking about money, this is what we tweeted last night and share on our Facebook page:
Shame on @univision for running an extensive #Zimmerman interview. How much did you pay him for appearance?
— Latino Rebels (@latinorebels) February 17, 2014
And not surprisingly, a lot of people in our community agreed. Here are just a few of the tweets we received, and you can read more on our Facebook:
@latinorebels @Univision What is newsworthy about giving this man a platform? Does Univision need the ratings that much? Really?
— Susanne RdA (@DurgaOne) February 17, 2014
@latinorebels @Univision It is sad to see ratings drive a story. And to see veteran journalists lend credence to one so wrong and shallow.
— Susanne RdA (@DurgaOne) February 17, 2014
What’s the cost of a soul nowadays? @latinorebels @univision
— David Flores (@dfloresbx) February 17, 2014
@DurgaOne that why I prefer hulu or netflix. 😉
— Rafael Perez Narvaez (@leafarperez) February 17, 2014
In the end, we want to thank those other outlets that did NOT interview Zimmerman.
[…] 2014, Univision was called out for interviewing George Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin. The network has also been criticized for making racist […]