Local officals have began to paint a profile of Boston Marathon bombers. Registered Democrats. Voted (twice) for Obama. Avid listeners of AirAmerica. More details to follow.
You've got a lot on your plate today. You're going to have plenty to discuss on the "Rich Lieberman Program" today in light of the new developments with respect to the Boston Marathon bombings, including, in particular, comment on how well the news media are providing accurate, reliable and timely coverage.
Looks like all the stupid liberals who wanted so badly for the bomber to be a white christian redneck Tea Party zealot will be crestfallen today. Better luck next time, America haters. Let the hand-wringing articles about understanding the bomber's feelings begin.
The San Francisco Chronicle has lined up family and friends of the Boston bombers for a feature story. The narrative writen by the Chronicle will be that the bombers are misunderstood youths.
Lonely voices have long been warning that terrorists are also coming across our borders, mixed in with the illegal immigrants. Our immigration "reform" will put them all on the pathway to citizenship. Can't the Liberals understand that their pandering to illegals also protects terrorists, smugglers and Mexican gangs?
The Mainstream Liberal media and many Liberal/Progressives accross the country have been spending a lot of time on their knees praying that the Boston terrorists would not turn out to be Moslems. They prayed that it would be some white right wing group that performed this hideous act.
Why does the Left so love moslem and so hate white males? Most liberals are total hypocites. They place their political views ahead of our country and our citizens.
They're white male and Muslim. Kinda throws a wrench into your engine of stupidity.
All I know is this: white, black, brown, Muslim, Christian...its always religious because they're all the same when it comes to murderers in the name of God. - dw
Ronn Owens' on KGO is great this morning taking calls on the Boston bombings and the manhunt underway. He termed their actions "as cowardly as it gets."
Just laughing at how poor MSM has handled this situation and numerous situations prior like Sandy Hook, Benghazi, etc. And more so, very tired of the clowns we see on our televisions these days who never once spoke to a terrorist on their own home turf.
1) Trot out and hold interviews with supposed Middle East and Russia "experts" to discuss Chechnya and terrorism there. Most Americans probably have never heard of Chechnya before and have no idea where it is. Chechen separatist terrorists have undertaken horrific bombings in Russia in their fight for independence.
2) Some "experts" will say the terrorists were probably trained by Iranian paramilitaries or Al-Qaeda, maybe even Hezbollah.
3) "Experts" will rush to claim the two brothers were waging a Jihad in the name of Islam because they are Muslim without knowing for sure what their real motivations were.
4) Media will speculate on whether other family members may be involved.
Twin strikes against the Twin Towers back in 2001 led the Bush regime to declare that the United States of America was "under attack". Thirteen years on, there is no such declaration from Obama after twin bomb blasts in Boston and another at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas.
Personally, I think we need some of our troops to stay here at home, and start patrolling major cities. I realize we have the National guard that is usually called in for emergencies and natural disasters, but I don't think it would hurt to have these soldiers patrol our lands on a regular basis.
The action of two individuals working alone, or a reflection on the broader family and community? To what extent were they influenced by and working with outside sources? Working in isolation, or as part of a terror cell?
And where next? Miami? California? DC? The New York Subway? This, at the end of the day, is what the terrorist cell wants - to sow panic, insecurity and make a living out of it, whatever the political motivation behind the strikes, because like everything else, the economic factor is present. With terrorism comes arms smuggling, drug trafficking, prostitution rings and the further the net spreads, the more vulnerable it becomes.
Human society cannot be defeated, however deep the hemorrhage, however great the carnage. The Soviet Union lost 26 million souls defeating Hitler but survived. The Irish were massacred for expressing their determination for independence but they got it and neither did the British public buckle in the midst of terrorist attacks from the IRA, funded to a large extent from NORAID in the USA.
The reporting errors out of Boston after the marathon blasts are piling up—and so is the finger-wagging. But isn’t the outrage here a bit selective and dishonest?
Getting the details of an unfolding terrorism drama wrong is understandable. But not checking easily checkable information isn’t.
what about some of the talking heads on NBC and MSNBC that believed this to have been done by right wing extremists? I bet they were heartbroken when they found out that it wasn't.
Take one total clusterf**k. Add a corporate-media culture where getting the scoop first is rewarded more than getting it right. Blend with a nearly infinite mass of internet pundits and self-appointed sleuths. Broil under an open flame of hate and fear. Season with a few scoops of the usual BS and lies. PRESTO! Modern media coverage! Serve it up hot and steaming and pretend it's not fecal. Yuck.
We all have to learn to ignore "reports from reliable sources", and just wait until the real reliable source; a FBI investigator, or Police Chief, makes a public statement of facts. I even heard one media source say that a third bomb, that didn't go off, was found. All of this before the conspiracy theorists and Talk Radio shows began inputting their own spin on the facts!
The Daily Beast is strangely going out of its way - perhaps due to its old media roots and whoever Tina Brown's buddies are - to excuse the inexcusable, that the NY Post repeated loose speculation by people as if it were both official and accurate.
Compassion comes in all colors, all ethnic, all ages, all genders -- just look, look, at how all and everyone responded to human need in Boston. And please, help stop the hate that is tearing our country apart.
MSLSD, along with the main stream media reported as directed by the Barack Hussein Obama administration, with all of the usual BS from Axelrod and the DNC........no surprise here.
Online news is taking over news and online real reporters are racing bloggers, jokesters and other self appointed and unsupervised disseminators of information for the story. What we are witnessing is a race for clicks not journalism (like in fact checking journalism).
The amount of misinformation reported after Newtown was breathtaking. This is the new news and what we have come to look upon as "professional journalism" may be a conceit whose time has come and gone as we revert to the bare knuckles make up the news scoop journalism of the 19th century.
The example to be set falls to the media, who not only rush to judgment without all the facts but also now rush to be the first one to tweet something that by the very real constraints of twitter (160 characters) can't be explained with any degree of context. It used to be (I'm showing my age here) that the public respected and in some cases longed to hear from illuminaries like Cronkite and Murrow. Now people like Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and Sean Hannity are considered to be members of the mainstream media. What more do you need to understand why the public is sick and tired of the silly games that are now played in the pursuit of ratings?
It's the 24-hour nature of TV cable news that's pernicious and stupid. i want a red light on my TV that goes on when something's happening. If I click on it, it gives me a text preview. If I dismiss it, I get not to watch John King and Wolf Blitzer, nor any of the Hannity quintuplets, tell me some bs over and over while they vamp for attention to one thing, or any thing. I want genuine news to be there. If there's an emergency warning, I want it to interrupt programming. If it's something that I've saved in my profile as very interested in, give me the notification. Let me choose whether I want to see a full report about it. Broadcast live if it really IS vitally important, otherwise reports all over the web. Google TV Reader.
Rich: everyone wants to be first rather than right. Outside the media bubble, no one really cares which outlet is the first to report something correct about a suspect. In this high-tech age, information moves pretty fast and whoever isn't first catches up rather quickly.
The worst part was outlets creating perceived boogeymen to fit their hopes of who the bomber is. That's disgusting. This act is no better or worse if the perpetrator is a muslim or an anti-govt American.
The advantage that NPR and PBSNewsHour have over the rest of the media: For them it's 'First, get it right, second, get it first.' And in those instances when they do make a rare mistake they admitted it immediately and with as much or more prominently than the original report.
No one wants to say "we just don't know" even when that is the exact truth because they know that those words will trigger the typical viewer/listener to move to the next station.
he media was in high gear to make sure Prez Zero could not be blamed for anything, especially since this is the first attack on American soil since Sep 11. Truly pathetic
No one is blaming BHO, just a media always looking to cover for him. He didn't set the bombs and he's no more responsible for them than his predecessor was for our being attacked. It happened; the media's job is to report facts.
I'm not a supporter but I don't blame him for the attack. That is ridiculous. Thank you for serving as a walking talking illustration that you can't fix stupid. Unravel your thong, dude.
Because the media was blasting the airwaves with the fact that it was probably a right-wing ultra-conservative Christian Tea Party type person. They were so far from the truth that it hurts.
The media had EVERYTHING wrong, down to whether a suspect was even in custody. The last time the press worked up Americans into a frenzy against Muslims, it resulted in two wars and thousands of innocent people dead. It's pouring gasoline on the fire. This is irresponsible.
Islam is a beautiful religion of peace and compassion. Shame on these terrorists in Boston for not practicing what they preach in Islam-- peace, love, harmony and empathy. Please do not harm the image of Islam anymore, people. Corrupted Islam is not the same thing. (I am a Jew, btw.)
I'm not sure why people have such a hard time distinguishing between "he was Muslim and considered himself devoutly Islamic, therefore Muslims are terrorists and Islam is a religion of terror" (false, inappropriate, and offensive) and "he was Muslim and considered himself devoutly Islamic, therefore it's likely that the terrorism was motivated by his Islamic beliefs/goals" (an accurate description of various Islamist terrorists from Osama Bin Laden down to Omar Shawfik Hammami, and a perfectly appropriate conclusion to draw from the facts). That says no more about whether his approach to Islam is normative or correct than it is to say that a nutcase like Yitzchak Shapira is motivated by his understanding of Judaism, perverted though that understanding is.
Political correctness never precludes important discussions of actual reality.
According to the FBI's "own statistics," over 90% of terrorism is committed by non-Muslims.
No, seriously, take a look: http://www.privacysos.org/terror_incidents Jewish extremists actually committed more terrorist acts between 1980 and 2005. And of the 14 terrorist attacks committed in the US between 2002-2005, eight (that's over half, in case you're bad at math) were committed by non-Muslim right-wing extremists.
Partisan politics, either flavor, isn't equipped to tackle the underlying societal issues at work in cases like this. The right offers under regulation and a stacked deck with rewards only if you succeed. The left over regulates and demands no effort, they want others to carry their weight. Washington doesn't work. Is that news?
Proper parenting, faith, values/morals have eroded...acting responsibly and maintaining a reasonable expectation from the world you live in (that includes some misery, injustice, and consequences).
That's not what 10:08 meant 11:36. Plenty of solid citizens that have grounded values based on different beliefs. When folks start using polarizing words like "only", trouble soon follows.
Dennis Radar is a prime example that TOO MUCH religion can back fire.
'The essence of journalism is the process of selection.'
Longtime NBC justice correspondence Pete William's Reporting Philosophy, And Why He's Getting Boston Right
In a media environment when fewer and fewer reporters operate on narrow, stable beats, when everyone is a “generalist” aggregating the same information everyone else has, Williams deep reporting background is invaluable. And members of the media—from other outlets nonetheless—easily recognized that.
Read the entire article here. http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/pete-william-s-reporting-philosophy-and-why-he-s-getting-boston-right-20130419
The rush to publish. Be the first with information. Who cares if it's accurate? Putting it on TV and radio and in print yesterday afternoon that they had video of the guy maybe tipped him to run fast and far, if he/she hadn't already done so. What's the problem with getting confirmation, and then another confirmation before going public?
This is probably what happens when people stop "paying" for news. We lose "real" journalists. Until we come up with a good pay system, quality of news will probably keep dropping. I say this as I am reading news for free on the Internet ....
The point is that it is irresponsible for news organizations to be so focused on speed that accuracy suffers. The public deserves factual information at a time like this. For too many situations, especially in the current age of internet & social media, organizations jumped to conclusions and that is a disservice to the public. it really is better to be correct than to be early, and it does not matter whether it is radical or conservative media doing it.
Fox News and ultra-conservative inflammatory talk show hosts are a huge part of the problem of discord and dissension in this country. They are not VALID news sources.
This has all the trappings of homegrown terrorism. There are many people in this country who feel government has gotten too big and has encroached on liberties. It's not a far stretch that some of these people would resort to violence to make a point.
Earth to the clueless--News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, has as one of its major financial backers a Saudi Arabian prince. So enough, please, with this idiotic idea that American leftists support a misogynistic hellish society like one in Saudi Arabia. The USA-Saudi relationship is based purely on self-interest revolving around oil. Leftists have nothing to do with it.
Amazingly enough, on the same day as the Boston Marathon bombing, there was a terrorist attack in Iraq leaving 50 dead & 300 injured. Where's the media attention?
In between the various symptoms of emotional exhaustion, I remain glued to incoming information. My radio will be tuned to KOMY AM 1340 and "Lieberman Live" today from 1-4 pm.
Marathon bombings which appear to be coming to a head today. Ricin sent to a Senator and the President. A petty thief in Texas, with his wife, murder three people for revenge. Also in Texas an explosion that kills scores.
After seeing whats happened in Boston (as well as other cities and countries) I will dedicate my life to defeating terrorists. I will 100% support the USA and I now feel the War on Terror is the RIGHT thing to do. Terrorists must be eliminated. USA needs less troops, MORE DRONE STRIKES
Remember that in breaking news situations that you are not in the 'Information business.' You are in the journalism business and your fellow citizens are depending upon you to report verified facts and substantiated information.
I think it is interesting that early in the week we saw speculation that it MUST have been right wing conservatives since it was Hitler's birthday (NPR's Dina Temple-Raston) or tax day (Chris Matthews and others), anniversary of Waco (various). I did a Lexis pull of transcripts and found 3:1 ratio of speculation this was right wing to possibility it was Muslim or Islam/Islamic/Islamist (email me and I'll give you the data)
Now, that it turns out it is NOT right wing conservatives, we have some of the same reporters warning we cannot rush to judgment about motives. Steven Inskeep on NPR and on his twitter feed said and posted "We are collecting dots. It's a day to be careful about connecting them." There was no problem with connecting those dots when it came to conservatives.
Journalism is not blogging or rumor or propaganda or advertising.
Journalists report what they have been able to verify through multiple sources, solid documentation or first-hand witness and observation.
Journalism is not being a human microphone stand.
Journalism is not about being first with inaccurate information, it's about providing accurate information and providing context and asking questions that need to be asked. That's something neither Rupert nor Roger has ever understood.
It appears the media overdid it yesterday, but before we criticize too much, I would like to point out a few things to provide much needed context and nuance.
This reporting on the bombing investigation is of an evolving story with multiple sources, perspectives and agendas. And the media's role is to report/verify the truth as it best can be known. Even today, we truly don't know what happened yesterday, whether anyone was questioned/detained/etc.
If a news organization finds 3 credible sources that says there was an arrest and/or someone in "custody," then I see nothing wrong with reporting it, even if that turns out to be contradicted later. Remember, this is all just the first draft of history.
The media has a role to play here and yes, it is to exercise responsibility and restraint, but it's not to totally accept the "official version," either, and ultimately search for the truth for our readers and nation. That's a strength, not a weakness of our Democracy and free press.
yes, it's a messy story by its very nature, and the rush to beat everybody else on the story obviously creates considerable competitive pressures.
it appears that sometimes reporters are too eager to believe what they want to believe, so they report what they have been told by people who may be repeating rumors, who have little or no real reason to know what they are telling journalists.
reporters should ask sources a little more often: how do you KNOW that?
Angry young males..what else is new? They spend all day killing people in video games,listening to music about killing, and spend the evening going over internet sites that show how to make a bomb. The day they can make a bomb that blows up the world...they will.
Just two nondescript angry young American boys caught up in video games?
There's much more to the story.
Muslim militants from Chechnya have a long history of unleashing devastating terror attacks on Russia. The world watched in horror in 2004 as armed Islamic separatist militants, some Chechen, occupied a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, and killed more than 380 people. Now they have struck America. Why? Because the Kremlin and the White House, despite their differences, cooperate closely on the perceived Islamic terrorism threat.
Chechnya's Russian-backed president has hit out at America for killing one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, both Chechen immigrants, and blamed the US for moulding them into terrorists. He said, "It is necessary to seek the roots of this evil in America. ... America is to blame" and "any attempt to draw a connection' between Chechnya and the brothers was 'futile.'"
Why did these Chechen terrorists strike in the U.S. and not Russia?
If those two guys had carried out that attack in Moscow, the repercussions would have been severe because the Russian state under (president Vladimir) Putin is not reluctant to go in hard and exact retribution on Chechnya.
What difference does the cause make? Its the whole modern world of kill those you dont understand...and media helps it along. Media corporations,who fund websites that promote bomb making,or hosts those websites..right? Dont you get it? Angry Caucasa mountain boys or Texas good old boys...easy access to find where you live on the net..and how to build what it takes to kill you. There will always be angry people,but its getting too easy for them to kill.
Why are so many of you posturing this as fodder for your political views? All this conservatiive vs liberals bullshit reminds me of the Hatfields vs McCoys. We don't even have facts yet and so many want to chime in on what's going to happen next, using this as yet another reason to feign intelligence and justification to talk mess about the opposing party. Now is the time for mourning! Bostonians can finally relax and start back to their normal lives. Can we all just put our fingers down, take a breath and think of compassion for the victims. There will be plenty of time for bickering and incredulous claims later...
MEDIA OUTLETS RESPOND TO BREAKING NEWS ABOUT THE BOSTON BOMBINGS - APRIL 19, 2013
ReplyDelete*BOSTON BOMB SUSPECTS ARE FROM ISLAM-LINKED CHECHNYA*
Yorkshire Post
*THE MARATHON BOMBING: GUNFIGHTS, BLASTS AND A MANHUNT SHUT DOWN BOSTON*
Time
*BOSTON SUSPECT'S WEB PAGE VENERATES ISLAM, CHECHEN INDEPENDENCE*
Reuters
*BOSTON AWAKENS TO LEARN 1 BOMBING SUSPECT DEAD, ANOTHER ON THE RUN*
Los Angeles Times
*BOSTON MARATHON BOMBINGS UPDATE: ONE BOMBING SUSPECT DEAD, MASSIVE MANHUNT FOR SECOND*
*BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECT KILLED IN SHOOTOUT*
Wall St. Journal
*POLICE: ONE BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECT KILLED, ANOTHER ON THE RUN*
CNN
*BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECTS: POLICE SAY ONE DEAD, MASSIVE MANHUNT UNDERWAY FOR SECOND*
Chicago Tribune
*TEEN STUNNED AT PORTRAYAL AS MASS. BOMBING SUSPECT*
Jay Lindsay, Associated Press
*MEDIA SHRUG AT BOSTON BLUNDERS*
James Hohmann, Politico
Local officals have began to paint a profile of Boston Marathon bombers.
DeleteRegistered Democrats.
Voted (twice) for Obama.
Avid listeners of AirAmerica.
More details to follow.
From the Rush information society?
DeleteYou've got a lot on your plate today. You're going to have plenty to discuss on the "Rich Lieberman Program" today in light of the new developments with respect to the Boston Marathon bombings, including, in particular, comment on how well the news media are providing accurate, reliable and timely coverage.
ReplyDeleteStill very much a developing story ...
ReplyDeleteLooks like all the stupid liberals who wanted so badly for the bomber to be a white christian redneck Tea Party zealot will be crestfallen today. Better luck next time, America haters. Let the hand-wringing articles about understanding the bomber's feelings begin.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. So the stupid conservatives who wanted so badly for the bomber to be Muslim are celebrating?
DeleteConsider counseling.
Agreed. Will this hinder their attempts to shove immigration reform down our throats for the votes now?
DeleteThe San Francisco Chronicle has lined up family and friends of the Boston bombers for a feature story.
DeleteThe narrative writen by the Chronicle will be that the bombers are misunderstood youths.
Most of the hatred, war and violence is directly linked with religion and ignorant people that believe that THEIR truth is the real truth.
ReplyDeleteLonely voices have long been warning that terrorists are also coming across our borders, mixed in with the illegal immigrants. Our immigration "reform" will put them all on the pathway to citizenship. Can't the Liberals understand that their pandering to illegals also protects terrorists, smugglers and Mexican gangs?
ReplyDeleteTrue words. If only more would wake up.
DeleteThe Mainstream Liberal media and many Liberal/Progressives accross the country have been spending a lot of time on their knees praying that the Boston terrorists would not turn out to be Moslems. They prayed that it would be some white right wing group that performed this hideous act.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the Left so love moslem and so hate white males? Most liberals are total hypocites. They place their political views ahead of our country and our citizens.
They're white male and Muslim. Kinda throws a wrench into your engine of stupidity.
DeleteAll I know is this: white, black, brown, Muslim, Christian...its always religious because they're all the same when it comes to murderers in the name of God. - dw
Ugh. A few horrible people just have to ruin everything. I know so many wonderful Muslim people and I'm sure they're as horrified as everyone else.
DeleteI may listen to Rush this morning to get his expert opinion on which radical Islamic group is responsible.
DeleteRonn Owens' on KGO is great this morning taking calls on the Boston bombings and the manhunt underway. He termed their actions "as cowardly as it gets."
DeleteMSNBC now reporting police looking for unnamed 3rd Boston suspect, possibly on train to Connecticut.
ReplyDelete"Boston Bombing Suspects' Uncle: 'They Do Not Deserve To Exist On This Earth'"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.buzzfeed.com/danoshinsky/boston-bombing-suspects-uncle-they-do-not-deserve-to-exist-o
Just laughing at how poor MSM has handled this situation and numerous situations prior like Sandy Hook, Benghazi, etc. And more so, very tired of the clowns we see on our televisions these days who never once spoke to a terrorist on their own home turf.
ReplyDeleteWatch for the media to:
ReplyDelete1) Trot out and hold interviews with supposed Middle East and Russia "experts" to discuss Chechnya and terrorism there. Most Americans probably have never heard of Chechnya before and have no idea where it is. Chechen separatist terrorists have undertaken horrific bombings in Russia in their fight for independence.
2) Some "experts" will say the terrorists were probably trained by Iranian paramilitaries or Al-Qaeda, maybe even Hezbollah.
3) "Experts" will rush to claim the two brothers were waging a Jihad in the name of Islam because they are Muslim without knowing for sure what their real motivations were.
4) Media will speculate on whether other family members may be involved.
I have to wade through 30 articles of BS just to find a kernel of semi-reliable truth.
ReplyDeleteDoesn’t matter if the terrorists are home grown or from abroad. The Devil wears many disguises.
ReplyDeleteGood (wise) post at 8:22am.
DeleteCondolences coming from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the victims of the terrible Boston Marathon bombings and people of America.
ReplyDeleteMuslims again. The religion of "peace." hahaha
ReplyDeleteWatching CNN. So scary. They're saying the 19 year old suspect "might want to go out in a blaze of glory." DAMN.
ReplyDeleteTwin strikes against the Twin Towers back in 2001 led the Bush regime to declare that the United States of America was "under attack". Thirteen years on, there is no such declaration from Obama after twin bomb blasts in Boston and another at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas.
ReplyDeleteRight. Because Obama isn't a moron. -dw
DeletePersonally, I think we need some of our troops to stay here at home, and start patrolling major cities. I realize we have the National guard that is usually called in for emergencies and natural disasters, but I don't think it would hurt to have these soldiers patrol our lands on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteFuck that!
DeleteThe action of two individuals working alone, or a reflection on the broader family and community? To what extent were they influenced by and working with outside sources? Working in isolation, or as part of a terror cell?
ReplyDeleteAnd where next? Miami? California? DC? The New York Subway? This, at the end of the day, is what the terrorist cell wants - to sow panic, insecurity and make a living out of it, whatever the political motivation behind the strikes, because like everything else, the economic factor is present. With terrorism comes arms smuggling, drug trafficking, prostitution rings and the further the net spreads, the more vulnerable it becomes.
ReplyDeleteThis is about as much a cell as you are a detective.
DeleteFear mongering at it's best. It's folks like this that want drones inside the us borders.
Deletewhat got bomber killing innocent of people in there. but bomber's missing this beautiful world about enjoying.
DeleteHuman society cannot be defeated, however deep the hemorrhage, however great the carnage. The Soviet Union lost 26 million souls defeating Hitler but survived. The Irish were massacred for expressing their determination for independence but they got it and neither did the British public buckle in the midst of terrorist attacks from the IRA, funded to a large extent from NORAID in the USA.
ReplyDeleteThe reporting errors out of Boston after the marathon blasts are piling up—and so is the finger-wagging. But isn’t the outrage here a bit selective and dishonest?
ReplyDeleteGetting the details of an unfolding terrorism drama wrong is understandable. But not checking easily checkable information isn’t.
what about some of the talking heads on NBC and MSNBC that believed this to have been done by right wing extremists? I bet they were heartbroken when they found out that it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteThe age-old problem is that everyone wants to be first. None of the news outlets takes time to verify their facts.
ReplyDeleteTake one total clusterf**k. Add a corporate-media culture where getting the scoop first is rewarded more than getting it right. Blend with a nearly infinite mass of internet pundits and self-appointed sleuths. Broil under an open flame of hate and fear. Season with a few scoops of the usual BS and lies. PRESTO! Modern media coverage! Serve it up hot and steaming and pretend it's not fecal. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteWe all have to learn to ignore "reports from reliable sources", and just wait until the real reliable source; a FBI investigator, or Police Chief, makes a public statement of facts. I even heard one media source say that a third bomb, that didn't go off, was found. All of this before the conspiracy theorists and Talk Radio shows began inputting their own spin on the facts!
ReplyDeleteScrewing up, obfuscating the truth, propaganda, and social engineering; it's what the mainsteam media do best.
ReplyDeleteThe Daily Beast is strangely going out of its way - perhaps due to its old media roots and whoever Tina Brown's buddies are - to excuse the inexcusable, that the NY Post repeated loose speculation by people as if it were both official and accurate.
ReplyDeleteCompassion comes in all colors, all ethnic, all ages, all genders -- just look, look, at how all and everyone responded to human need in Boston. And please, help stop the hate that is tearing our country apart.
ReplyDeleteMSLSD, along with the main stream media reported as directed by the Barack Hussein Obama administration, with all of the usual BS from Axelrod and the DNC........no surprise here.
ReplyDeleteOnline news is taking over news and online real reporters are racing bloggers, jokesters and other self appointed and unsupervised disseminators of information for the story. What we are witnessing is a race for clicks not journalism (like in fact checking journalism).
ReplyDeleteThe amount of misinformation reported after Newtown was breathtaking. This is the new news and what we have come to look upon as "professional journalism" may be a conceit whose time has come and gone as we revert to the bare knuckles make up the news scoop journalism of the 19th century.
I would rather know less, but have verified correct information than all this babble.
ReplyDeleteThe example to be set falls to the media, who not only rush to judgment without all the facts but also now rush to be the first one to tweet something that by the very real constraints of twitter (160 characters) can't be explained with any degree of context. It used to be (I'm showing my age here) that the public respected and in some cases longed to hear from illuminaries like Cronkite and Murrow. Now people like Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and Sean Hannity are considered to be members of the mainstream media. What more do you need to understand why the public is sick and tired of the silly games that are now played in the pursuit of ratings?
ReplyDelete2, 4, 5, 7 and 11: TV News is selling me BS as its business model.
ReplyDeleteIt's the 24-hour nature of TV cable news that's pernicious and stupid. i want a red light on my TV that goes on when something's happening. If I click on it, it gives me a text preview. If I dismiss it, I get not to watch John King and Wolf Blitzer, nor any of the Hannity quintuplets, tell me some bs over and over while they vamp for attention to one thing, or any thing. I want genuine news to be there. If there's an emergency warning, I want it to interrupt programming. If it's something that I've saved in my profile as very interested in, give me the notification. Let me choose whether I want to see a full report about it. Broadcast live if it really IS vitally important, otherwise reports all over the web. Google TV Reader.
ReplyDeleteRich: everyone wants to be first rather than right. Outside the media bubble, no one really cares which outlet is the first to report something correct about a suspect. In this high-tech age, information moves pretty fast and whoever isn't first catches up rather quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe worst part was outlets creating perceived boogeymen to fit their hopes of who the bomber is. That's disgusting. This act is no better or worse if the perpetrator is a muslim or an anti-govt American.
The advantage that NPR and PBSNewsHour have over the rest of the media: For them it's 'First, get it right, second, get it first.' And in those instances when they do make a rare mistake they admitted it immediately and with as much or more prominently than the original report.
ReplyDeleteHonesty trumps speed every time.
No one wants to say "we just don't know" even when that is the exact truth because they know that those words will trigger the typical viewer/listener to move to the next station.
ReplyDeletehe media was in high gear to make sure Prez Zero could not be blamed for anything, especially since this is the first attack on American soil since Sep 11. Truly pathetic
ReplyDelete9:12 AM: Truly pathetic is your need to blame the President for every single thing that goes wrong in the universe.
DeleteNo one is blaming BHO, just a media always looking to cover for him. He didn't set the bombs and he's no more responsible for them than his predecessor was for our being attacked. It happened; the media's job is to report facts.
DeleteI'm not a supporter but I don't blame him for the attack. That is ridiculous. Thank you for serving as a walking talking illustration that you can't fix stupid. Unravel your thong, dude.
DeleteWhat exactly should the president be blamed for? Do you have video of him setting down a backpack?
DeleteAt least he stopped what he was doing and responded, unlike the man in office last time this happened.
Right-wing radio talk show hosts and pundits are using the Boston manhunt to bash immigration reform, gun control, and mock "Boston liberals."
ReplyDeleteLimbaugh's and Savage's hate radio does deserve some of the blame.
DeleteBecause the media was blasting the airwaves with the fact that it was probably a right-wing ultra-conservative Christian Tea Party type person. They were so far from the truth that it hurts.
DeleteThe media had EVERYTHING wrong, down to whether a suspect was even in custody. The last time the press worked up Americans into a frenzy against Muslims, it resulted in two wars and thousands of innocent people dead. It's pouring gasoline on the fire. This is irresponsible.
DeleteIslam is a beautiful religion of peace and compassion. Shame on these terrorists in Boston for not practicing what they preach in Islam-- peace, love, harmony and empathy. Please do not harm the image of Islam anymore, people. Corrupted Islam is not the same thing. (I am a Jew, btw.)
DeleteI'm not sure why people have such a hard time distinguishing between "he was Muslim and considered himself devoutly Islamic, therefore Muslims are terrorists and Islam is a religion of terror" (false, inappropriate, and offensive) and "he was Muslim and considered himself devoutly Islamic, therefore it's likely that the terrorism was motivated by his Islamic beliefs/goals" (an accurate description of various Islamist terrorists from Osama Bin Laden down to Omar Shawfik Hammami, and a perfectly appropriate conclusion to draw from the facts). That says no more about whether his approach to Islam is normative or correct than it is to say that a nutcase like Yitzchak Shapira is motivated by his understanding of Judaism, perverted though that understanding is.
DeletePolitical correctness never precludes important discussions of actual reality.
According to the FBI's "own statistics," over 90% of terrorism is committed by non-Muslims.
DeleteNo, seriously, take a look: http://www.privacysos.org/terror_incidents Jewish extremists actually committed more terrorist acts between 1980 and 2005. And of the 14 terrorist attacks committed in the US between 2002-2005, eight (that's over half, in case you're bad at math) were committed by non-Muslim right-wing extremists.
Of course, there are peaceful Muslims, but Muslim terrorists are fanatics.
DeleteSorry, but it's these terrorists that have ruined it for the regular Muslims.
You can't blame people when a red flag goes up on learning that someone is Muslim. It's human nature.
They're basically saying that Allah has asked them to do these things, using their religion to kill people.
It's their fault, not ours. Blame them.
People don't have the patience or time to try to figure out if your a normal Muslim or a fanatic. They're too busy trying to stay out of harms way.
All that Hate Talk Radio has consequences. Additionally, that kind of speech is NOT protected by the US Constitution.
DeleteWhat's good for the goose....
DeletePartisan politics, either flavor, isn't equipped to tackle the underlying societal issues at work in cases like this. The right offers under regulation and a stacked deck with rewards only if you succeed. The left over regulates and demands no effort, they want others to carry their weight. Washington doesn't work. Is that news?
Proper parenting, faith, values/morals have eroded...acting responsibly and maintaining a reasonable expectation from the world you live in (that includes some misery, injustice, and consequences).
10:08 AM is right. Jesus Christ is the ONLY answer.
DeleteJust the opposite, religon is the cause of this bombing, 911 and as it has been with so many wars thoughout history.
DeleteThat's not what 10:08 meant 11:36. Plenty of solid citizens that have grounded values based on different beliefs. When folks start using polarizing words like "only", trouble soon follows.
DeleteDennis Radar is a prime example that TOO MUCH religion can back fire.
'The essence of journalism is the process of selection.'
ReplyDeleteLongtime NBC justice correspondence Pete William's Reporting Philosophy, And Why He's Getting Boston Right
In a media environment when fewer and fewer reporters operate on narrow, stable beats, when everyone is a “generalist” aggregating the same information everyone else has, Williams deep reporting background is invaluable. And members of the media—from other outlets nonetheless—easily recognized that.
Read the entire article here.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/pete-william-s-reporting-philosophy-and-why-he-s-getting-boston-right-20130419
The rush to publish. Be the first with information. Who cares if it's accurate? Putting it on TV and radio and in print yesterday afternoon that they had video of the guy maybe tipped him to run fast and far, if he/she hadn't already done so. What's the problem with getting confirmation, and then another confirmation before going public?
ReplyDeleteThis is probably what happens when people stop "paying" for news. We lose "real" journalists. Until we come up with a good pay system, quality of news will probably keep dropping. I say this as I am reading news for free on the Internet ....
ReplyDeleteit is clear the incredible power of social media and the implications that it can have on journalism.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I find it an act of respect to those implicated in the Boston explosions to avoid throwing out speculation and conspiracies.
ReplyDeleteThe point is that it is irresponsible for news organizations to be so focused on speed that accuracy suffers. The public deserves factual information at a time like this. For too many situations, especially in the current age of internet & social media, organizations jumped to conclusions and that is a disservice to the public. it really is better to be correct than to be early, and it does not matter whether it is radical or conservative media doing it.
ReplyDeleteFox News and ultra-conservative inflammatory talk show hosts are a huge part of the problem of discord and dissension in this country. They are not VALID news sources.
ReplyDeletePost at 9:35am
DeleteWatch MSNBC. Then look in the mirror.
This has all the trappings of homegrown terrorism. There are many people in this country who feel government has gotten too big and has encroached on liberties. It's not a far stretch that some of these people would resort to violence to make a point.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what effect immigration reform legislation would have had on these two? Amnesty?
ReplyDeleteEvangelicals are already blaming this on "the gays".
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy!!!
DeleteNow more than ever, we Americans, regardless of political party or ideology, need to come together in unity.
ReplyDeleteEarth to the clueless--News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, has as one of its major financial backers a Saudi Arabian prince. So enough, please, with this idiotic idea that American leftists support a misogynistic hellish society like one in Saudi Arabia. The USA-Saudi relationship is based purely on self-interest revolving around oil. Leftists have nothing to do with it.
ReplyDeleteAnyone listening to coverage on NPR: "Nice Polite Republicans?"
ReplyDeleteI'm sticking with Amy Goodman & "Democracy Now!"
I love it when Rich Leeberman points out the errors of the news media.
ReplyDeleteHeck of a Friday to news dump the Boy Scouts ending their ban on the homosexuals.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly enough, on the same day as the Boston Marathon bombing, there was a terrorist attack in Iraq leaving 50 dead & 300 injured. Where's the media attention?
ReplyDeleteIn between the various symptoms of emotional exhaustion, I remain glued to incoming information. My radio will be tuned to KOMY AM 1340 and "Lieberman Live" today from 1-4 pm.
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate this post. Thank you for taking the time to reflect and share, Rich.
ReplyDeleteThe fact remains that they have accomplished their deed. An entire city shut dorm by 2 'Holy Terrorists'. For shame on us for opening our borders.
ReplyDeleteLets take a moment to review this week shall we?
ReplyDeleteMarathon bombings which appear to be coming to a head today. Ricin sent to a Senator and the President. A petty thief in Texas, with his wife, murder three people for revenge. Also in Texas an explosion that kills scores.
Ugh.
After seeing whats happened in Boston (as well as other cities and countries) I will dedicate my life to defeating terrorists. I will 100% support the USA and I now feel the War on Terror is the RIGHT thing to do. Terrorists must be eliminated. USA needs less troops, MORE DRONE STRIKES
ReplyDeleteNPR's special coverage of the manhunt in Boston now on... KQED's "Forum" hosted by Michael Krasny preempted.
ReplyDeleteNo, Dennis Rodman as a U.S. spy to Korea...*that's* surreal.
ReplyDeleteIn any event, the thing to focus on is not what’s the right thing to do, but who’s likely to score the most partisan points out of this?
ReplyDeleteRemember that in breaking news situations that you are not in the 'Information business.' You are in the journalism business and your fellow citizens are depending upon you to report verified facts and substantiated information.
ReplyDelete“Clearly tell the public what you know and what you do not know,” “Choose your words carefully,” “Don’t overdo it.”
ReplyDeleteUnless you're ABC, MSNBC or CNN, then speculate that it's tied to the Tea Party.
I think it is interesting that early in the week we saw speculation that it MUST have been right wing conservatives since it was Hitler's birthday (NPR's Dina Temple-Raston) or tax day (Chris Matthews and others), anniversary of Waco (various). I did a Lexis pull of transcripts and found 3:1 ratio of speculation this was right wing to possibility it was Muslim or Islam/Islamic/Islamist (email me and I'll give you the data)
ReplyDeleteNow, that it turns out it is NOT right wing conservatives, we have some of the same reporters warning we cannot rush to judgment about motives. Steven Inskeep on NPR and on his twitter feed said and posted "We are collecting dots. It's a day to be careful about connecting them." There was no problem with connecting those dots when it came to conservatives.
Journalism requires verification.
ReplyDeleteJournalism is not blogging or rumor or propaganda or advertising.
Journalists report what they have been able to verify through multiple sources, solid documentation or first-hand witness and observation.
Journalism is not being a human microphone stand.
Journalism is not about being first with inaccurate information, it's about providing accurate information and providing context and asking questions that need to be asked. That's something neither Rupert nor Roger has ever understood.
It appears the media overdid it yesterday, but before we criticize too much, I would like to point out a few things to provide much needed context and nuance.
ReplyDeleteThis reporting on the bombing investigation is of an evolving story with multiple sources, perspectives and agendas. And the media's role is to report/verify the truth as it best can be known. Even today, we truly don't know what happened yesterday, whether anyone was questioned/detained/etc.
If a news organization finds 3 credible sources that says there was an arrest and/or someone in "custody," then I see nothing wrong with reporting it, even if that turns out to be contradicted later. Remember, this is all just the first draft of history.
The media has a role to play here and yes, it is to exercise responsibility and restraint, but it's not to totally accept the "official version," either, and ultimately search for the truth for our readers and nation. That's a strength, not a weakness of our Democracy and free press.
yes, it's a messy story by its very nature, and the rush to beat everybody else on the story obviously creates considerable competitive pressures.
ReplyDeleteit appears that sometimes reporters are too eager to believe what they want to believe, so they report what they have been told by people who may be repeating rumors, who have little or no real reason to know what they are telling journalists.
reporters should ask sources a little more often: how do you KNOW that?
Angry young males..what else is new? They spend all day killing people in video games,listening to music about killing, and spend the evening going over internet sites that show how to make a bomb.
ReplyDeleteThe day they can make a bomb that blows up the world...they will.
Just two nondescript angry young American boys caught up in video games?
DeleteThere's much more to the story.
Muslim militants from Chechnya have a long history of unleashing devastating terror attacks on Russia. The world watched in horror in 2004 as armed Islamic separatist militants, some Chechen, occupied a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, and killed more than 380 people. Now they have struck America. Why? Because the Kremlin and the White House, despite their differences, cooperate closely on the perceived Islamic terrorism threat.
Chechnya's Russian-backed president has hit out at America for killing one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, both Chechen immigrants, and blamed the US for moulding them into terrorists. He said, "It is necessary to seek the roots of this evil in America. ... America is to blame" and "any attempt to draw a connection' between Chechnya and the brothers was 'futile.'"
Why did these Chechen terrorists strike in the U.S. and not Russia?
DeleteIf those two guys had carried out that attack in Moscow, the repercussions would have been severe because the Russian state under (president Vladimir) Putin is not reluctant to go in hard and exact retribution on Chechnya.
They would know that wouldn't happen in America.
What difference does the cause make? Its the whole modern world of kill those you dont understand...and media helps it along. Media corporations,who fund websites that promote bomb making,or hosts those websites..right? Dont you get it? Angry Caucasa mountain boys or Texas good old boys...easy access to find where you live on the net..and how to build what it takes to kill you. There will always be angry people,but its getting too easy for them to kill.
DeleteWhy are so many of you posturing this as fodder for your political views? All this conservatiive vs liberals bullshit reminds me of the Hatfields vs McCoys. We don't even have facts yet and so many want to chime in on what's going to happen next, using this as yet another reason to feign intelligence and justification to talk mess about the opposing party. Now is the time for mourning! Bostonians can finally relax and start back to their normal lives. Can we all just put our fingers down, take a breath and think of compassion for the victims. There will be plenty of time for bickering and incredulous claims later...
ReplyDelete