Here's how NBC News, in a March 27, 2012, broadcast of the "Today" show, abridged the tape of Zimmerman's comments to a police dispatcher on the evening of Feb. 26, 2012:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black.

The full tape went like this:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he's up to no good. Or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.

Dispatcher: OK, and this guy -- is he black, white or Hispanic?



Zimmerman: He looks black.

NBC Universal Media responded to the Zimmerman complaint by noting that other media outlets played up the racial angle of Zimmerman's deadly encounter with Trayvon Martin.

The company also noted the pivotal nature of the second-degree murder case: "[I]f Zimmerman is convicted, that fact alone will constitute substantial evidence that the destruction of his reputation is the result of his own criminal conduct, and not of the broadcasts at issue which, like countless other news reports disseminated by media entities throughout the country, reported on the underlying events."