"Law-enforcement investigators often make errors in judgment and reach mistaken conclusions. Yet they understood immediately the implications of the propane bombs. Why, then, did countless experienced journalists fail readers, viewers, and listeners on that vital element of the story? Not even Cullen can truly explain this failure. Yet he’s quite clear on how the process worked: due to incomplete and otherwise careless reporting, most journalists formed their frame of reference for the story early, then screened out contradictory evidence."
Not very often a review of anything entices me to want to buy it. This book may be the exception to that rule.
And the final comment quoting Michael Crichton wrt to our amnesia when it comes to newspaper storys is why I all but gave up on them ages ago. Dad was a cop for 38 years, so I always heard how badly the media got a particular story that he was working as a case. Then I spent five years as a hard rock miner and saw how warped any story about resource industries were written.
Now I have been in Her Majesty's service for 18 plus years and see how badly they miss the mark when it comes to storys about the military.
Gives no confidence in their ability to report on anything.
Professional journalists have failed to realize that their days of being purveyors of "truth" are over.
Bloggers typically openly disclose writing which is opinion, or conjecture. It is held to scrutiny in the marketplace, in real time. The blogosphere "truth" content is much higher than that contained in the professional journalist's product.
That the professional journalism community hasn't figured out what is taking place - that the means by which the collective perception of reality has fundamentally, profoundly, and permanently morphed - and acted upon that realization - is a scorching indictment of their abilities.
We'll hear more screeching from this cadre as they attempt to thwart the organic truth machine that has reached out with fibre-optic tentacles and woven itself into this world.
I fully expect the professional journalists to attempt to make a Faustian-deal: you, the politicians, rely on us to form opinion - which delivers your votes; our ability to do this is hampered by these pesky alternative truth merchants (with free product, curse them!); if we are to deliver the masses to you, you must silence this competition.
Curse you, professional journalists! You have brought more grief into my life than benefit - with creeping socialism, education in a self-fulfilling dumbing down cycle, victimology, wasteful spending of our national treasure on useless boondoggles...
Dumber than a bag of hammers, yet so full of ego that they believe they are able to tell us what is really going on, but can't save themselves.
Columbine was trimmed to fit the "misunderstood kid" template.
They have a template for everything. That's why they are going under. People don't want the template, they want to know what happened.
For many Western MSM "journalists", who needs all those facts, when the NDP, Liberal, Democratic and Labour Parties supply all the talking points necessary to form a priori conclusions?
(BTW, under ancient Roman law, when a Magistrate rendered a verdict without hearing all the available evidence, it was considered a "pre-judice" verdict. From that we derived the modern English word prejudice.)
" most journalists formed their frame of reference for the story early, then screened out contradictory evidence."
uhhh, dudes...that's called p.r.e.j.u.d.i.c.e
it comes from viewing events through a partisan template
don't confuse them with the facts their collective mind is made up.....uhh, what was that biight streak in the sky?
Agree with shaken. The term "professional journalist" is really an oxymoron -- with the emphasis on the "moron". Yet as Crichton has pointed out, hope springs eternal. So we tend to give credence to these idiots long after they've utterly destroyed any shred of credibility which the principle of charity says we should give them a priori.
I'm morbidly curious as to what is actually taught at a journalism school. In my own professional life I've been an investigator of one sort or another in most of my careers -- military policing, working as a ranger, diagnosing illness as a physician. In each of these endeavours getting at the truth has been the first priority, and along with that has come the humility to know when I've come a cropper and a recognition of the need to fix that when it's happened.
But journalists!! My God, it's as though the truth were the last thing on their minds, and that factoids are simply the window dressing needed to embellish a fanciful narrative like a tawdry advert at the used car lot. No knowledge of the scientific method, no ability to evaluate intelligence, follow lines of investigation, weigh evidence, assess probabilities, basics of deductive reasoning (or any sort of reasoning it would seem), an utter and complete intellectual desert. And do they even care? Seems not!
Yes, the world would be a better place without journalists. No newspapers, no news programs on TV. We can all rely on the totally unbiased blogosphere.
While we are at it, let's get rid of all the politicians too -- because the word "honest politican" is an oxymoron. And the bankers!
Most of all, we need to expunge the world of the over-exaggeraters. Hmmm, where to start.
Well, I was going to be critical of the miserable job that so-called "journalists" have been doing over the past 40 years or so, but Mr. Goulet's well-argued rebuttal has put that desire to bed.
Thank you, Mr. Goulet, for opening my eyes. Know I can see the wonderful work these guys have been doing. Top-notch stuff!
My favourite was how the MSM whitewashed the murderers' prior criminal records in order the advance the "misunderstood kid" trope. You wouldn't want news consumers concluding the tragedy could have been avoided if the punks had been dealt with ruthlessly, rather than "punished" with probation and community service.
Dear Mr. Goulet, please allow me to re-phrase. The world would be better without -lying- journalists. And perhaps politicians who -steal-, aka the Liberals, since as you say all pols lie.
Does this meet with your approval sir?
If thes jokers had any abilities that were of any value they would probably not be journo's in the first place.
The profile of your typical reporter consists of nothing that would get them a real job.
Actually getting rid of all the Journalists and TV News programs would be a good Idea. Markets abhor a vaccum. Something would replace it pretty quick.
The beauty of the Capitalist world is it works.
For my money the politicians can go too, along with those massive bureaucracies a fresh start would take them at least 50 years to screw things up this bad again.