From RawStory:
TV station’s closed captioning slurs Austin bombing victim Draylen Mason as ‘this monkey’
However, not to worry because not only was it not the TV station’s fault that they broadcasted this blatantly obvious racist slur, it was also not the fault of the contractor who supplies the closed captioning. Naw. It was… wait for it…
“The complex algorithms utilized from the technology perspective will, in rare instances, result in an error in delivering a key word, name or phrase either contextually or alphabetically.”
VITAC, the outside company that provided live captioning to KVUE newscasts, blamed it on their software! Because of course it’s just “an error in delivering a key word, name or phrase either contextually or alphabetically” that the algorithm selected “monkey ” as the descriptor for a BLACK male.
I think HAL (the AI in “2001, A Space Odyssey”) would disagree:
Well, I don't think there is any question about it. It can only be attributable to human error. This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error.
The human error in the case of referring to Mr Mason as a “monkey” is believing that all one has to do is attribute the slur to software and everything will be peach-keen. Sorry, Charlie, that’s not the way the world works in today’s world. Especially when you shovel BS in an attempt to CYA:
“The unfortunate error which occurred was neither intentional, nor is it a regular or acceptable occurrence in the delivery of our services,” VITAC said. “As a group of professionals we at VITAC are resolutely serious in our commitment to provide, accurate essential accessibility services for the Deaf and Hard Of Hearing community and we are embarrassingly disappointed that we failed to do so today.”
“The unfortunate error which occurred”? WTF does that mean? Was their an error that didn’t occur? Still, to claim that it was not intentional strains credibility. Instead of trying to BS their way out of this situation, VITAC should have issued a statement to the effect that they were going to find out who was responsible for this flagrant disparagement, and immediately fire them; otherwise, VITAC may lose even more fortune if other TV stations deep-six them.
If you would like to share your opinion of VITAC’s services with them, here’s their contact info: Telephone, 800-775-7838; email, concerns@vitac.com
For more on what a wonderful person Draylen was, you can visit the his Memorial Fund Page:
Draylen Mason, a disciple of Christ, musician, aspiring neurosurgeon, and black belt martial artist ascended to his Heavenly Father at the age of 17 due to a senseless package bomb left on his doorstep by a lost soul.
Draylen was preparing for his morning workout with his mother, Shamika Wilson, when they both became victims. His grandmother, Sandra Jones, watched as he took his last breath. Our hearts grieve - we were preparing to send him off to the university of his choice, but now we are now faced with the need to plan a life celebration to honor his legacy as a member of the Austin Youth Orchestra, Austin Sound Waves and other community service organizations.
You can also read a moving tribute to him at the Chicago Tribune:
"Every once in a while, you see a kid that just has this spark," said William Dick, Draylen’s former conductor at the Austin Youth Orchestra.
"When Draylen appeared, in some sense he was incandescent, like a Rembrandt painting where the light sort of comes out of him,” Dick said. “He’s in the room and his little spirit was there, along with the technical proficiency he had.”