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By Jon Sutz
Since the beginning of the trial of Noor Salman, who was indicted for helping her husband, Omar Mateen, to plan and execute his ISIS-inspired jihadist attack on the Pulse nightclub, I noticed how HuffPost was using a cartoon image of her that made it appear she was a Disney character. Note the resemblance of the image used in HuffPost’s front page headline, above, to “Jane,” from Disney’s “Tarzan”:
As the trial unfolded in early 2018, HuffPost’s defense of Salman — while insisting it is a completely nonpartisan, objective newspaper — became more egregious, especially considering it kept using the same, cartoon-ish figure of her.
After the case was handed to the jury on March 28, HuffPost’s “news” articles regarding the case became more strident, and gave credibility to the her defense attorneys’ claim that she was a “scapegoated victim… of gender Islamophobia.” HuffPost did this while knowing that she had signed a confession — which it featured in its stories, but never made a headline, itself.
Ultimately, she was acquitted, because even though the jurors reportedly believed she knew Mateen was going to mount a jihadist attack, she did nothing to alert authorities, or to do anything to stop it, the prosecution failed to prove to the jury’s satisfaction that she knew of this specific attack, or to knock down other mitigating factors.
After the verdict, HuffPost ran a series of top-of-the-front page splash headlines, effectively celebrating Salman’s acquittal, and again claiming she was a “victim” of “scapegoating,” based in “gender Islamophobia.”
I then sent the screencaps I had accumulated of HuffPost’s front page stories regarding Salman’s trial, along with a small collection of female Disney characters, whom I contend the illustrations HuffPost chose to use bear a striking similarity, to Oleg Atbashian, the creator of the liberty-oriented satire site The People’s Cube.
Oleg agreed with my assessment, and quickly turned these raw materials into a satirical photo-essay that mocked HuffPost’s editorial decisions regarding the Salman trial:
HuffPost Disney-fication of Noor Salman by The People’s Cube 31Mar18
I then posted the link to Oleg’s article on Facebook and Twitter. Soon after, I was alerted that the HuffPost “journalist” behind these articles posted a rebuttal to me on Twitter. The following is the entire sequence, in order, of her comments, and my replies.
This is where it started:
In the last days of her trial, HuffPost publicized claims that Noor Salman is a “victim of gender Islamophobia,” and used a Disney-esque cartoon of her to evoke sympathy.
The People’s Cube produced this terrific photo-essay to illustrate this outrage:https://t.co/Z1wTBQoFoC pic.twitter.com/aiySEUOz91
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
Hi Jon – we did not create the sketches of Noor Salman. They were drawn by the official court sketch artist.
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) April 1, 2018
Really? You don’t find it just a wee bit curious how she was turned into a Disney character by that artist – the wife of the jihadist behind the Pulse massacre? That was not a story in itself? There were no other pictures you could have used? https://t.co/B7D3zVjdqC
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
I sat in the trial for 2 weeks alongside the sketch artist. There were no cameras allowed in federal court, so we used the sketches that he produced. It’s not curious at all; the artist is a caricature/cartoonist by trade.
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) April 1, 2018
Hi Jon – we did not create the sketches of Noor Salman. They were drawn by the official court sketch artist.
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) April 1, 2018
Curious also how HuffPost applies such different editorial & visual standards when it disagrees with a jury’s/grand jury’s verdict. Especially as several jurors in Salman trial now say they believe she knew & could have stopped Pulse attack. HuffPost: Shhh… that’s not a story. pic.twitter.com/BibTyRe7Vo
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
Oh Jon… The jurors unanimously found her not guilty. The foreman can come out and make an anonymous statement now but the verdict is in.
They cleared her. Period.
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) April 1, 2018
That is not the issue. The local and federal investigations into Darren Wilson cleared him of any wrongdoing. Yet HuffPost was on a 24-7 jihad against him from day one. In this case, however, HuffPost championed her cause from day one – before the verdict. See the difference? pic.twitter.com/fjhZcaUhgi
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
From day one? I’ve only been covering the case for a month. We used the images that were produced in court. That’s it. There’s no conspiracy here.
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) April 1, 2018
You had choices. You could’ve used any images. You chose to use the inane Disney-fied ones, instead of neural ones. You could’ve given top coverage to the reasons why she was indicted. Instead you assailed America & chose to act as her PR squad. The evidence clearly shows this.
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
You really don’t see the different here, I assume. Here’s HuffPost announcing the news of her indictment and pending trial. A Disney character, on trial for aiding in the murder of 49 gays. No bias whatsoever. pic.twitter.com/HW1n3G167n
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
I wrote that story. I chose the image.
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) April 1, 2018
And curiously, HuffPost never ran a story about this curious video — of a foreign imam, known for his anti-gay hate and incitement, who gave this sermon >>in Orlando, two months before massacre<<. Was she at that sermon? HuffPost: “Shh…. not relevant.”https://t.co/OT07iRXZh7
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
Lol, you’re obviously not interested in the facts, Jon. Have a good weekend.
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) April 1, 2018
Not >that’s< funny, coming from one who gazes upon the facts I provided of HuffPost’s chronic duplicity, even throwing gays under the bus, to propagandize for Noor Salman. Awesome job.
— Jon Sutz (@JonSutz) April 1, 2018
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