The Media and the Story They Want To Tell
The press, out of tradition, has always taken great joy in tearing down larger than life characters and great institutions of society. However, over the past decade the mainstream media has gotten incredibly lazy. Rather than researching and reporting the facts of the story, they seem to take their cue directly from the talking points of the mouth piece of the left wing political machine. Two stories of the day illustrate this perfectly; Dick Cheney's hunting accident and the British Soldiers apparent beating of Iraqi protestors.
Despite the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report, finding no alcohol at the scene and no obvious intent, meaning they ruled it an accident. And despite witness accounts that describe the accident as an error in hunters' judgment, the liberal left immediately(Paul Begala and Joshua Michan Marshall) began to cast suspicion on Cheney and the White House because of an 18 hour delay in the announcement of the accident. Naturally, the media picked up on this, prompting the White House Press Corps to ask no less than 25 questions and follow-ups on the subject. Apparently Iraq, Iran, Energy Policy, unemployment numbers, the upcoming Katrina Report and the most severe winter storm in years, all take a back seat to the hunting accident and possible conspiracy. Hells bells, even Helen Thomas didn't get a chance to do her daily diatribe on how President Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. One has to ask what was the press hunting for after the same question was asked over and over? Even after White House Spokesperson, Scott Mclellan reasonably explained that the immediate focus and concern was getting Mr. Whittington the medical attention he obviously needed, the pursuit of the cover up continued. If the press thinks there was some type of conspiracy here they should go out and get the story. The truth is that there is no conspiracy. Cheney and Whittington, both, had valid hunting licenses and was up to date on hunting fees. The Vice President was given a warning because he failed to have a $7 stamp affixed to the license, a new requirement (within the last five months) in the state of Texas. Instead, it's so much easier to speculate on unfounded suspicions and premature allegations. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
The second instance of the slothful media is the overly repeated broadcast of the video apparently showing British soldiers beating Iraqi protestors. While the video appears to be brutal, the press glosses over the fact that the video begins at the start of the beating, and offered no account of what occurred before British soldiers took it out on the protestors. From viewing the video on the news networks, it's obvious to me that there was at least 4 edits on the tape. No one mentions how much time has passed in between the cuts. Why not? And no one knows when the incident actually occurred (it was sometime in 2004). You would think that any respected journalist would want to know this. Could it be that the mainstream media doesn't want the facts to get in the way of the story they want to tell?
Despite the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report, finding no alcohol at the scene and no obvious intent, meaning they ruled it an accident. And despite witness accounts that describe the accident as an error in hunters' judgment, the liberal left immediately(Paul Begala and Joshua Michan Marshall) began to cast suspicion on Cheney and the White House because of an 18 hour delay in the announcement of the accident. Naturally, the media picked up on this, prompting the White House Press Corps to ask no less than 25 questions and follow-ups on the subject. Apparently Iraq, Iran, Energy Policy, unemployment numbers, the upcoming Katrina Report and the most severe winter storm in years, all take a back seat to the hunting accident and possible conspiracy. Hells bells, even Helen Thomas didn't get a chance to do her daily diatribe on how President Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. One has to ask what was the press hunting for after the same question was asked over and over? Even after White House Spokesperson, Scott Mclellan reasonably explained that the immediate focus and concern was getting Mr. Whittington the medical attention he obviously needed, the pursuit of the cover up continued. If the press thinks there was some type of conspiracy here they should go out and get the story. The truth is that there is no conspiracy. Cheney and Whittington, both, had valid hunting licenses and was up to date on hunting fees. The Vice President was given a warning because he failed to have a $7 stamp affixed to the license, a new requirement (within the last five months) in the state of Texas. Instead, it's so much easier to speculate on unfounded suspicions and premature allegations. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
The second instance of the slothful media is the overly repeated broadcast of the video apparently showing British soldiers beating Iraqi protestors. While the video appears to be brutal, the press glosses over the fact that the video begins at the start of the beating, and offered no account of what occurred before British soldiers took it out on the protestors. From viewing the video on the news networks, it's obvious to me that there was at least 4 edits on the tape. No one mentions how much time has passed in between the cuts. Why not? And no one knows when the incident actually occurred (it was sometime in 2004). You would think that any respected journalist would want to know this. Could it be that the mainstream media doesn't want the facts to get in the way of the story they want to tell?
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