NBC Execs Defend Dateline's Depiction of Detroit

NEW YORK, April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mary Sheffield represented a third generation of citizen advocates, today in the meeting with NBC, including her grandfather Horace Sheffield Jr., a historical figure in the labor movement that met with Presidents Roosevelt, Kennedy & Johnson to advance the cause of civil rights.  

Mary will join her father, Reverend Horace Sheffield III of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO) at a 9:30 AM press conference tomorrow (Tuesday April 27) at the Sheffield Center, 12048 Grand River at Wyoming.   The Sheffields will discuss the results of their meeting in New York City today with NBC executives and Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen.  The New York meeting focuses on the NBC Dateline production, "America Now: City of Heartbreak and Hope", a feature about Detroit.

"It is clear that NBC is dealing with the presentation of perceptions more than the reality of Detroit.  Dateline's Detroit is not my Detroit.  NBC's position during our New York discussions was based on viewers' response.  Even as we fight for a better Detroit, it is clear that we must also do battle to ensure that perceptions of Detroit are fair and balanced," said Mary Sheffield.

Reverend Sheffield's initial assessment of the meeting is, "I believe that NBC executives and Dateline's Chris Hansen truly believe that there was more hope than despair in Detroit's depiction.  NBC attempted to convince us that the sheer volume of emails, faxes and other telecommunications was overwhelmingly in support of the Dateline production about Detroit.  However, those communications are not coming from the people of Detroit many of whom do not even own a computer. Elected officials representing millions have rejected NBC's Dateline production.  NBC needs to be convinced," said Reverend Sheffield noting that Detroit Mayor Bing, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and even Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson have cosigned a commentary saying "enough is enough" condemning Dateline.

SOURCE Detroit Association of Black Organizations