This Title Has Been Corrected
Been an interesting day of news, but not for the reasons you might think.
Sure, the usual Trump shite, another sexual predator resigns from congress and whatever else the universe felt the urge to throw at us. What caught my attention though, was what two news organizations got wrong.
CNN ran a story this morning alleging that Don Trump Jr. got an e-mail from someone with a code key offering up all the Wikileaks documents. The date on this happened to be a little while before all the files were released.
As it turns out, CNN messed up on the dates, and this was actually 10 days after the documents came out. No story there.
On the other side of the reality spectrum, FOX News ran with a headline screaming ‘Roy Moore Accuser forged yearbook evidence’. Of course, from other reports earlier, we had learned that wasn’t the case.
What actually occurred, was that the woman added the date and place as notes, underneath Moore’s dedication and signature.
Again, both stories here aren’t what I’m focused on. It’s how they were dealt with when they were proven incorrect.
On CNN, they issued a correction, a press release and added an update at the top of the original story.
On FOX, they deleted the original tweets and modified the story (without bylines).
It’s clear where I’m standing who handled it the correct way, and who tried to sweep it under the rug now that the damage was already done. A provocative headline will always garner more attention than a corrected one.
Journalists fuck up, we all do.
The difference is whether it was an accident, or whether they’re using misinformation as a tool to further an agenda.
We need to hold the news media to a high standard, they’re one of our main protections against ignorance. To journalists, in the wake of a screw up, I recommend-
Take responsibility, correct the record louder than you muddled it, make amends to those you hurt and do better next time.
Shitty day for news, but we either learned something or spent the day yelling ‘FAKE NEWS’.
I’ll take the former.
-Because I Can.
Quote of the Day
“The lowest form of popular culture – lack of information, misinformation, disinformation, and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people’s lives – has overrun real journalism. Today, ordinary Americans are being stuffed with garbage.”
-Carl Bernstein