Viewer's Voice

By: Annette Newell/Eyewitness News 9 | WNCT
Published: April 04, 2008

Each week we invite your feedback on our stories for a segment we call Viewer’s Voice.

Vanessa Sperry from Farmville says our story yesterday on the Ryan Lee shooting in Rocky Mount struck a nerve.

Charles Davis made the comment that Eve Carson's murder was solved and this one should be too. “I was very, very, disappointed that WNCT aired that comment! It was extremely racist and unwarranted! Though both murders are sad, Ryan Lee was in a gang and had been shot at before (according to your report). Eve Carson was an innocent college student, murdered for no apparent reason... Shame on you for letting that comment go on air,” he said.

We're sorry you found the story upsetting.

Sadly though, the link in both cases could be gang activity which is why we aired the comment - it had nothing to do with race. The judge overseeing the Eve Carson murder case asked state lawmakers to hold a special session to crack down on gangs.

Some viewers said we should report that other local colleges offer a program that ECU's putting on hold.

“Your story on high school students at ECU was nice but Craven Community College has had this program in place for about 3 years now,” said one viewer.

“PCC does have this program in place and high school students are currently and have been taking classes on campus and earning credits,” said another.

Thanks for bringing that to our attention. Our story aimed to explain why ECU had changed its plans, however we did also mention Beaufort County offer a similar program.

And on the Jacksonville councilman child support issue, one viewer had this to say, “I find the use of the phrase "black mark" inappropriate by the reporter that brought us this story. While it has been a common term in our society, it has since become a term that delineates that "black" is negative in any sense. In many instances, this is interpreted to correlate the same negativity towards an African-American, which this gentleman is."

For this one, let's check the dictionary.

Interestingly, the word black has a total of 35 definitions in the English language with thirty-five different meanings. One of those definitions is deserving or bringing disgrace or shame.

It obviously is a completely separate meaning from the word black referring to the populations characterized by dark skin pigmentation.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in or called for this week’s Viewer’s Voice!