Posted on 01/04/2006 3:57:30 AM PST by Erik Latranyi
Once again, the MSM (mainstream media)has exposed its complete lack of credibility, decency, morality and integrity.
The story this morning of the trapped West Virginia miners is just another example of how our primary sources of information cannot be trusted.
Let's face facts, folks....even here at FR, we get our information from the MSM. However, by assembling many sources and then testing those sources against the combined experiences of those on this forum, we determine whether a particular story passes the smell test.
However, in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, we must still have some faith in some of the sources of stories we read. Unfortunately, that faith is continually shaken by the exposing of media bias, sloppiness, immorality, etc.
What appears to have happened this morning with the trapped miners story is that some members of the media were in the vicinity of the command post when the radio call from the mine came back that the miners were found.
It was from that single thread of information that the story appeared to break out that the miners were all found alive. Even the governor, who stated he had to ask his security detail what was going on , was not aware of the breaking story that all 12 remaining miners were found alive. You see, the governor was in the church with the families. A single family member received a phone call from someone watching the news that it is was being reported that all 12 remaining miners were found alive. That family member announced the news to the others in the church and then the bells started ringing.
The media will hide behind the "unconfirmed report" label that was ignored. The media will refuse to take responsibility (most are liberals after all) for toying with the lives and hearts of the families of those who were lost. The media will refuse to acknowledge any need to show concern for those waiting nearly 2 days for news about their loved ones, but will talk about the need to be first with the story.
Just like Hurricane Katrina reports about rapes and murders and 10,000 dead, the media has demonstrated that facts do not matter.
Just like on 9-11, when the media was reporting at least 10,000 dead in the twin towers.
Just like, just like, just like..........
So, let us use this space to compile a list of the media mistakes. Let us make this the news and let us refer back to this thread whenever a news story breaks and our "trusted" sources get it wrong----again.
Someone from outside, who heard the incorrect report, called one of the family members who was inside on a cell phone, and that person made the announcement. If the media hadn't jumped the gun, those folks would never have been given the false information.
In this particular case, yes. What corporation do you slave for, slave?
Being a news junkie I am signed up to a lot of news sites (FOX, CNN, AP, etc.) for their breaking news email alerts. One of the things that confused me is that all of these sites used family members as their source of information when announcing a breaking news story about this event. Is a family member of a trapped miner a reliable source of information when relaying news about a tragic event?
Maybe I missed the media saying "unconfirmed reports"... I began watching the coverage just less than an hour into it and almost 2 hrs before a family member ran up to the CNN guy and said "there are no survivors! they are telling the families in the church!". Before that I saw no hint that it was unconfirmed other than my own curiosity as to why no officials were speaking on TV.
I flipped from CNN to MSNBC mostly because, at that time, FOX was running a rerun of Brit's show.
Maybe I just missed the "unconfirmed reports" part of the jubilation.
I also thought that was odd. I was curious when family members kept saying they heard the news from a mine official, yet they couldn't identify the official. I knew something was definitely amiss when the reporter from Fox interviewed a family member via cell phone from the church. The family member said he'd be seeing his uncle would be delivered to the church within the hour (i.e.: they would see family members at the church before going to the hospital). That seemed really fishy. Why would they send miners to a church full of people before getting a medical examination?
"Someone from outside, who heard the incorrect report, called one of the family members who was inside on a cell phone, and that person made the announcement. If the media hadn't jumped the gun, those folks would never have been given the false information."
Where did you hear that story?
Below is what I have been hearing since it happened last night:
A forman in the command center overheard it on the radio/2way from inside the mine. He heard something about vital signs and he called the family member. That is where it all began.
The MSM heard it from the family members of the church. The MSM didn't make the story.
The media did not confirm it. The not confirming it was what they did wrong. Reporters got caught up in the celebration, they didn't make it.
I'm self employed. I'm just bright enough to figure out that if there are no corporations out there, nobody eats, nobody gets a paycheck, nobody can afford a house, nobody can afford to give their spoiled little children an allowance. BTW, how much does your daddy pay you each week?
I agree with what you are saying. Let's make those evil corporations pay more taxes--that will show them. Let's make those greedy insurance companies pay more--that will show them. Let's sue doctors for big mal-practice claims--that will show them. Trouble is that all this socking it to all these businesses socks it to all of us in the end. What you end up with is higher prices, higher premiums, fewwer jobs, and less choice because people have been run out of business. I feel for those families at the mine but I don't have much respect for one woman I saw last night and one of the first things she says is that she's going to sue. How is that going to help? Everyone is looking for an opportunity to make a buck out of someone else's skin. That's the mentality we have today.
I saw that, but I gave her a little bit of slack because of what she just went through. It could well have been emotion. Of course, after all the lawyers watching have contacted her, she may be willing to go along with it. If she does, the mine will shut down.
" Newsweek's "Flush the Koran" "
Who could forget when Islamic terrorists claimed they had kidnapped a U.S. soldier, and then released the picture of their captive?
AP went with it, and it was published 'round the world. But... ooops! Too bad it was a picture of a doll in soldiers' attire!
That was the funniest thread on FR... Classic.
"Dewey Wins"
Al Gore Wins
Part of my problem with the MSM, however, is the fact that this wasn't really a story until last night. When this first broke, I searched and searched for information regarding the miners. I remembered the Pennsylvania miners and how that story was saturated all over the news. This WV mining story didn't really become a story for the media until they pulled the first body out. And even then, it didn't really gear up until the blunder was made last night. There has been more coverage of this story in the last 24 hours than in the last several days. That is the real shame in all of this.
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