Update: North Carolina News Anchor Grips Handcuffs During Election Polling Segment

[bathroommonkey76]

Last edited Sun Nov 6, 2016, 01:56 PM - Edit history (2)

A news anchor at a CBS affiliate in Greensboro, North Carolina, clutched handcuffs for no apparent reason during a segment on election polling last Tuesday.

Just before summarizing the close North Carolina election polling performed by nearby Elon University, WFMY News anchor Morgan Hightower put down a tablet she had been holding and picked up a pair of handcuffs.

“Now let’s get back to those new poll numbers that Elon released today,” Hightower said, visibly gripping the handcuffs. “They said not only will this presidential race be too close to call in our state, so will the race for governor and Senate.”

The camera next zoomed in on her hands holding the handcuffs, then cut away to feature graphics of the poll results.

Neither Hightower nor WFMY’s news director immediately responded to requests for comment about the meaning behind the gesture.

It is hard, however, not to associate Hightower’s use of handcuffs with the claims of Donald Trump’s campaign and its backers that Hillary Clinton belongs in prison for her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/north-carolina-news-handcuffs_us_581e50f7e4b0d9ce6fbc8498?

WFMY issued has issued a response:

Last week, our newscast aired a brief story on the deadlock closeness of the Presidential polls in North Carolina using handcuffs as a prop. We commonly use props and visual comparisons in storytelling. In response to a Huffington Post article about our report, it appears social media has separated the words of our story from our pictures and the storytelling intent.

Our story was not about - and made no reference to - any investigation, criminality or possible prosecution of either Presidential candidate. It was a story about the neck and neck closeness of the candidates in current polling - the prop meant to denote the discomfort of these bitter rivals locked side by side in the polls. We should have better explained, more so, used a better prop. We regret the confusion.


Larry Audas

WFMY News 2

Copyright 2016 WFMY

http://www.wfmynews2.com/news/community/wfmy-news-2-responds-to-social-media-posts/348748086

[OlWiseRedEye]

2. Tweeted

I tweeted them, everyone should. Unacceptable and further example of the blending of "news" and "opinion".

[complain jane]

3. Jesus

the Kool-Aid's strong these days. Handcuffs during a newscast? WTF?

[randome]

7. I think it was an attempt at voter intimidation. Either way, she should be fired.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[Cha]

8. Voter Intimidation.

[Thrill]

11. Absolutely

[TrekLuver]

12. I tweeted both of them. Considering this was not an opinion piece she needs to be fired.

And what was up with them focusing on those handcuffs when she said Hillary's name...this was all carefully planned.

[book_worm]

13. Did you notice when she said Hillary Clinton's name the camera went directly on

the handcuffs?

[LisaL]

14. I find this highly inappropriate. To say the least.

What does the station has to say about it?

[workinclasszero]

19. Trump monkey...voter intimidation!

What the actual F*** is going on at that TV station!?

[miyazaki]

21. Not only does she need to be shit canned, but very possibly, the producer, news director

as well. Throw in the technical director for good measure. This was a preconceived set-up
shot performed in collusion.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

22. Her Facebook page is getting a lot of comments:

https://www.facebook.com/morganhightowernews/

I can't believe the station hasn't released a statement.
The only redeeming possibility is that they were about to do a story on the anti-Hillary handcuff meme and screwed up. These small market stations can be pretty sloppy, even affiliate stations.

[TrekLuver]

26. Thank you for that link. I added my 2 cents. They will release statement in the next hour or so...

Call and complain 336-379-9316

[nolabear]

23. The same thing happened on an MSNBC interview the other day.

I don't know who the man was; I didn't think was more than a stupid bit of stagecraft by an individual.

This thing just gets more sickening by the day.

[bettyellen]

29. Manafort is probably handing out pairs of handcuffs these days...

[PoorMonger]

52. Right.

I saw that too. Was gonna bring it up, because not only is this news anchor absolutely unprofessional - they aren't even original.

[TrekLuver]

25. PUBLIC OUTRAGE IS WORKING: Call and complain 336-379-9316. They are putting out a

statement in the next hour or so...the woman who answered the phone agreed with me. I said Ms. Hightower has a right to her opinion but unless it was an opinion piece I cannot understand her rational with doing this stunt.

I love how I was able to complain via facebook, twitter and then able to call.

[BlueStreak]

30. No she doesn't have a right to EXPRESS her opinion. It is called A JOB

The First Amendment does not protect an employee from acts that damage her employer. If she wants to stand on a corner as a private citizen and holler "Lock Her UP" all day, she is welcome to that. But even in that case, as a public figure her employer could fire her if she brings hard to the station's reputation.

Free speech doesn't mean you get to keep your job.

[TrekLuver]

32. Exactly....she has a right to her opinion but not a right to express it.

[BlueStreak]

33. She has a right to express it. She just doesn't have a right to keep her job

if her expression brings damage to her employer.

[rzemanfl]

27. She was just sending a signal to her date. n/t

[OlWiseRedEye]

35. Been in them all morning

Tweeting @cbspolitics and @cbsnews all morning... suggest you all do the same all day

[patsimp]

43. they must be for ghulianni, trump, and christie. all three should be locked up fast.

[radius777]

44. and Comey, treasonous bastard who belongs in Gitmo. /nt

[Grey Lemercier]

49. what the fuckery!!!

the lot of them need to be terminated with cause

[electron_blue]

59. wth? handcuffs picked up when she says Hillary's name. wtaf

[Rex]

62. The Moral Majority are losing their last remaining marbles.

Their ship is sinking and all they have is bombastic garbage. RIP GOP.

[AgadorSparticus]

64. This kind of shit annoys the crap out of me! F@$!#*&!!!

But instead of focusing on the fyckers, we need to do voter education so that people realize what their rights are and to see this sort of bullshit for what it is.

When they go low, we go high. And in the process, people will turn out and vote and turn off WFMY. I hope people in NC will boycott that station....

[BlueStreak]

67. Let's get real. This is the South where the Civil War never ended

"Proper" newscasts mostly avoided using phrases like "String him from the highest tree" when referring to Obama, although that is what they wished they could say out loud.

Hillary is just a proxy for the proud tradition of white supremacy -- that is to say, most African-Americans support Hillary. So when these fine Southern belles shout "Lock her up" or use handcuffs to say the same thing, they might as well be saying "Let's lynch all them n*****s."

Post-racial America, my ass. The only good thing about this election is that the racists are out in public now --all 45% of them.

[Skittles]

69. that "explanation" makes no sense at all