Monday, May 16, 2005

More Accurate Reporting - And the Consequences

Nice that these journalists are so careful about verifying their sources and the information that they print. Seems like their Koran desecration source isn't certain where he read (or misread) the info on the desecration.

Before publishing the item, reporters Michael Isikoff and John Barry sought comment from senior defense officials, Newsweek said. One declined to respond, and the other challenged another part of the story, but did not dispute the Quran charge, Whitaker said.
I hope they're not trying to say that not disputing the Koran charge is the same as verifying it.

How many people have died for this bit of sensationalized reporting?

UPDATE: Ah Yes. The Newsweek debacle continues. Now that they have apologized for their shoddy work, no one will believe them. Obviously this is an American cover up of the truth.
But Muslims said they suspected that pressure from Washington was behind the magazine's climbdown, Reuters reported Monday.

"We will not be deceived by this," Islamic cleric Mullah Sadullah Abu Aman told Reuters in the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan.

"This is a decision by America to save itself. It comes because of American pressure. Even an ordinary illiterate peasant understands this and won't accept it."

On Sunday, a group of clerics led by Aman vowed to call for a jihad, or holy war, against the United States in three days unless it handed over the interrogators reported to have desecrated the Quran.
This is exactly the reason why news sources have to be careful. Newsweek decided to do place a sensational report, even though there was no corroboration from anywhere. Now it's a conspiracy and the extremists want more heads. Nice not having to be responsible for deaths or injuries.

1 comment:

Granted said...

Just finished reading up on this one. It just hasn't been a good couple of years for the mainstream media. They're really sticking their hands all the way down into the grinder. You'd think the pain would wake a few of 'em up, but I guess they're like a lot of people, learning by observation doesn't work, only learning by direct experience. Enjoy the mangled fingers Mr. Isikoff.