Hell's Belles

As I was watching this episode, I kept wondering when this incident took place. I live in California and yet I couldn't remember reading about this in the recent past. Adding to my confusion was the scene where a letter alleged to be from the White House was signed by President Barack Obama. I knew for sure this hadn't happened in Oakland in the last five years. I paused my TV to get a better view of the signature and low and behold, it was a letter from President Obama sending "warmest wishes to all celebrating the sacred festival Passover." That discovery led me to the Internet, where I learned that this tragedy happened in 1997--twelve years before his first term in office.

Here's my question: Wouldn't a form letter from the actual president in 1997 have been the way to go with this? Why mislead the viewing audience into believing this happened in Oakland within the last five years? Why make it seem as if President Obama had sent the letter commending Stevie Allman for her work to curb drug dealers' activities in her neighborhood? Why hide the fact that President Bill Clinton sent this letter? This seems a little more than sloppy, lazy journalism. It reeks of an agenda to purposely mislead your audience. Striving for excellence and accuracy would seem a more important goal.