Posted on 12/16/2004 1:21:23 PM PST by nickcarraway
After any suicide, survivors feel guilty. Was there a way it could have been avoided? Was there something we could have said or done to change such a terrible end?
Most of the time, the rational answer is no. People kill themselves because of depression that we can't fully understand, let alone heal. Yet we're still haunted, particularly if the person committing suicide distinguished himself doing what we do. Even more so if there's history. That was the case with Gary Webb, the ex-investigative reporter for the Mercury News.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Doesn't say much for his career, now does it.
I remember this guy.
Dan Rather must have liked his style of 'reporting.'
Let it suffice to write RIP.
Maybe Rather will do the valiant thing and follow this guy's lead. One can hope.
Do you think Dan Rather will eventually do the same thing?
LOL!
Perfect comment!
> Dan Rather must have liked his style of 'reporting.'
Let it suffice to write RIP.
"RIP?"
"Rather In Peace?"
Sounds like the guy was a conspiracy theorist who used his job as a "journalist" to push his agenda.
Was he their "crack" reporter?
Depression sucks.
Hmm, was this the guy that jumped from the 280 overpass onto Crystal Springs Road in San Mateo?
Its about a 200+ ft fall. Sure does make a mess.
He shot himself in his hate-filled, liberal-demokkkRAT head; a shotgun, I think. Original report said "multiple wounds". Still wondering about his "weapon of demise"...
They also managed to squeeze in the comment that he "spoke truth to power".
His flaw was the flip side of his virtue. Once convinced he was right, Webb didn't budge. It wasn't that his facts were wrong: It was the lines he drew between them. His lack of doubt demanded a firm editor to challenge him.
A reporter who doesn't listen well cannot be considered either talented or compassionate. Mr. Webb (like Mary Mapes and many others) clearly was engaged in the oxymoronic "advocacy journalism" which has damaged so much of the credibility of the MSM.
"Drawing lines" between facts and refusing to doubt one's conclusions sounds more like the work of a lawyer than a reporter. You want to be an advocate? Get your J.D. (much harder than a B.A. in journalism), pass the bar (much more difficult than setting up shop with a newspaper), and get to work. Or start your own newspaper and use the Op-Ed page for your advocacy. Otherwise, stick to determining what all the facts are as best you can, verifying the veracity of your sources, and then reporting "the story" clearly and well to your readers.
Pays about 7 to 10 times as much, too! (No exaggeration there.)
Uh, the answer is right near the top of the article. You could have read that instead of me quoting it:
Coroner's investigators said he shot himself in the head with a .38-caliber handgun...
What a jerk.
Is it possible to misinterpret the meaning of this line more completely than the author of this piece, Scott Herhold, did? Dylan Thomas' poem is a denunciation of suicide or any other behavior that is accepting of death, and Herhold dimwittedly applies it to a suicide!
Rage Rage against the dying of the light
Go not gentle into that good night.
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Uh, the answer is right near the top of the article. You could have read that instead of me quoting it:
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No, had to register. Thanks chief.
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