"WE all" are not part of the media, who have a RESPONSIBILITY to verify FACTS from RELIABLE sources.
At the very least, a disclaimer that this is, as yet, an unsubstantiated report would have been in order.
Posted on 01/04/2006 7:19:32 AM PST by bessay
Bush's fault.
According to what I hard, it was the governor's assisstant in the Command Center who was the one spreading the "good news."
You are so right; they drive the story.
And when they are dead wrong, like last night, they only ramp up their "investigation" into who is to blame; they get snippy and demending of officials -- all in an effort to ferret out WHO the problem is -- when all along, they ARE the problem.
I can look at myself in the mirror and feel OK with myself for doing that, even though the story turned out to be wrong. Because at that point in time, the story that 12 were alive appeared confirmed ... AP even went with it, and believe me, AP is absolutely the slowest organization on the planet earth to confirm a story, especially if it breaks on TV ... and I went by the book and did what I was supposed to do, which was to get the most current story I could get in the paper before deadline. Which was the story that 12 were found alive. Which was wrong.
The good thing from my end is that by this afternoon, people will be lining bird cages and cat boxes with the paper containing that wrong story, and I'll get to do it all again. Because again, I think I went by the book and did what I was supposed to.
The people who put this wrong story out on TV and out on the wires as confirmed? They didn't do what they were supposed to. They screwed the pooch as badly as it is possible to screw the pooch. If what I have heard about the way this "miscommunication" happened is accurate, this is as big a black mark on my trade ... journalism isn't a profession, it's a trade, the only people who call it a profession are pompous, IMHO ... as has ever been, and at this particular moment in time I feel ashamed of my trade. And it stems from putting a bigger priority on getting it first than getting it right ... it stems from putting a bigger emphasis on the human element than on the facts (I'm not saying the human element is not important or germane to news coverage, but it's gotten to where people think human interest first instead of facts, when IMHO the facts should always be nailed down first, then you flesh it out with human interest stuff later on) ... and it stems from, at least with TV, and Fox is no different than any of the others, the journalists wanting to make themselves a part of the story.
sw
"WE all" are not part of the media, who have a RESPONSIBILITY to verify FACTS from RELIABLE sources.
At the very least, a disclaimer that this is, as yet, an unsubstantiated report would have been in order.
So have I. Our command center ALWAYS has at least two persons watching the news for accuracy.
This is what I posted on another thread:
They are never going to name the person that started the rumor, but last night several people on CNN said that it was the governor's aide who was working in the Command Center; they said she heard the communications and RAN from the CC trailer to the church, threw open the doors, threw up her arms, and shouted, "Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! They are alive."
It went downhill from there. ALL of the rumors were spread by the people and the press; the governor nor the company made ANY announcements.
Geraldo turns every event into a vaudeville sketch.
I draw parallels between this and the Dan Rather Bush National Guard story. It was great news that everybody involved wanted to be true.
That's what I was referring to in my first post, when I said that if this "miscommunication" happened the way I heard it happened, it was as big a black mark on the trade of journalism as has ever been. It was inexcusable, totally and utterly inexcusable, to run with that story in the way they ran with that story ... TV, wires, everybody ... with no more confirmation than that. If I were the editor in charge of some of these folks, there would be firings.
Watch the press conference at 1 p.m. I doubt you're going to see anything except the press trying to find out why THEY were lied to and who did it.
I said this last night and I'll say it again: I actually hate ALL of them more than I ever hated Clinton.
There comes the day when erasing the blackboard just isn't enough.
The old one must be torn down and a new one put up to replace it. One that the class can see without squinting.
My hometown paper stopped the presses and pulled the wrong story, even though it made them at least 2-3 hours late.
The only responsibilty of the media is to earn a profit and avoid getting sued for libel, fraud or sexual abuse etc. while so doing. You impose false goals upon them. Caught in the emotional wave, I suppose. Only human. Quite understandable.
Well, it's a legitimate question to ask. And there should be consequences for the people who started this cluster-**** rolling as well. But if the press starts trying to pass the buck and evade its responsibility at said press conference, the governor or whoever is conducting it should simply stop talking and pull out a giant mirror on the stage and say, "Take a look, guys."
Unfortunately the press run of my paper was already complete when the truth broke, or I'd have gone back and changed it as well.
Far, far, FAR more than the general public realizes, unfortunately.
The press went along with it as did the govenor. So did we. EVERYONE should have waited until they heard something from the CEO or someone in authority. We fell for it too and we know better. Especially when Geraldo is within 10 miles of a situation.
I'm surprised we didn't Katrina-like coverage about the miner's eating one another.
I did hear some fool say that this happened (the accident) because they were non-union.
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