MSM runs with story about alleged beheadings in Iraq, but blogger Bob Owens finds out the story was false

This is an excellent piece of citizen journalism.

It goes right to the heart of what some of the complaints have been about regarding MSM reporting on what happens in Iraq: Some of their so-called ‘reliable sources’ are dubious at best, and in this case, corrections were made to reflect the error made but after a story is sensationalized (as the stories about the beheadings were, as McQ notes here) how many casual readers of the news look for the corrections that have been printed/published on these stories? And – obvious question here – why aren’t these ‘facts’ checked into a little deeper in the first place, which would cut down drastically on the misinformation?

Memo to the mediots: ‘Fact’ verification isn’t exactly rocket science, but it is part of your jobs. A big part.

Good work, Detective Bob.

3 Responses to "MSM runs with story about alleged beheadings in Iraq, but blogger Bob Owens finds out the story was false"

Great White Rat says:

July 3, 2007 at 3:27 pm

Great job by Bob Owens, for sure.

And it’s not like this is the first time the MSM has run with a fake behading story. Like this one that had the NYT in a lather more than a year ago.

ST asks:
And – obvious question here – why aren’t these â€˜facts’ checked into a little deeper in the first place, which would cut down drastically on the misinformation?

I assume the question is rhetorical….after all, isn’t the MSM goal to present Iraq as a hopelessly insane place full of crazies killing each other by the score? A place we should abandon immediately? So what’s to be gained by looking for facts?
forest hunter says:

July 3, 2007 at 5:51 pm

…To date, these wire services have consistently failed to visibly enforce standards of reporting,…

I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree with this point. The *standards* of AP and Rueturds are depicted EXACTLY like this case of *News* and as GWR points out, if it doesn’t further the hate driven agenda of those opposed to creating a democracy in Iraq, at a bare minimum it will not BE reported! Shades of grey include this form of lying/reporting for which these and other agents for terrorists/m are actually famous for, if not proud of, as demonstrated by the promotions within their traitorous ranks.

Verifying reports in Iraq is very hard for journalists,…

Well okay then, it’s hard so lets not do it right. But by packin water for the splodeydopes, just how much tougher is it making the job of exterminating this scourge from the face of the earth. By those * lets do it the easy way standards*, carpet bombing should have already commenced! After all, all we have to say is “Do overs” and bury the non story and non apology. Harder to do once the place has been flattened but it certainly would expedite matters.

What they refuse to admit is how their alliance with the terrorists is damning the Iraqi who would otherwise have a chance but for the damage being caused by what at best could only be called, disingenuous fables.

Somehow one can’t create hope when despair is your constant sidekick and daily offering. Unless of course, the troops they’re supporting are the uniformless Islamic freaks bent on world domination and havoc! If they say their job is to report and not create hope, then perhaps they should have a go at that for once. Put in an honest day or get out of the business – just like every body else who works for a living!
Drewsmom says:

July 6, 2007 at 9:02 am

An Army recruiter came over last week to talk to my son who will be a junior nexy year about intelligence work since he is such a geek on the computer scene.
He accidently let it slip that come Sept. we are going start to see a substancial pull-back and I think its about time, let the Iraq folk carry the heavy weight for awhile. He said we’d be on the sidelines in another country to help out but it made me feel a little better bout the situation.
Don’t be mad at me guys but I think our soldiers need a break.
After all, they may need the rest cuz they may need to go into Iran and beat the hell outta those guys.
I still think the Iraq folks need to be told, if you are not an extremist get out cuz Iraq will look like a parking lot soon.
We also need to be working behind the scenes to get the Iranians to rise up againt the insane midget that is running their country and do the same in hugo’s dictatorship of a country.

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