The tragic misinformation broadcast around the world about the fate of the Tallmanville Virginia miners has got me all wrapped around the axels. Unfortunately I wish I could say it is an isolated incident but in fact, misinformation has become a national epidemic. Tallmanville is just made worse by well intentioned folks allowing family members hope of their relative’s survival, only to have to dash those hopes hours later.
I fell victim to it as well, proudly announcing to my wife and friend “They’re ALIVE!” I was thrilled for them and their families. I went to sleep glad in my heart for their good fortune. The next morning I sat horrified in front of my TV trying desperately to get my head around the fact that all but one miner had actually perished in the mine. I had perpetuated the whole thing by spreading the news to my wife and friend.
It seems that despite the best intentions, sophisticated technology, HUMIT (human intel), on-the-spot reporters giving "Live" reports from the field, Congressional Oversight Committees and various “watch dog” groups, we still keep getting it wrong.
I hear it all the time…High fat diets are wrong, low carb diets are wrong. Hell we even modified the food pyramid because “we were wrong”. Bush was wrong, the war is wrong, the reasons we went to war are wrong. Katrina was a category 4 storm…no a high category 3, the levees were over whelmed by water or they were bombed by a racist administration. It’s all turning out to be crap.
Facts mean absolutely nothing if we fail to observe them and confirm them prior to reporting them. It makes me wonder if the all the recent incidents, during which we seem to repeatedly get thing wrong, are because they don’t jibe with what we desperately WANT to believe.
Apologies aren’t cutting it anymore. Lives are greatly affected by failure to accurately report news facts. I am so sick of “spin” I could puke. Just give me the facts, good, bad and ugly, so I can make an informed conclusion. Some finely printed retraction on page 3 of the next issue doesn’t make things right, despite what some slick attorney may tell you.
I am disgusted. I just don’t know how far to go back to get myself on track. Perhaps as far as the Flat Earth Theory? If our current news outlets wish to retain any credibility they had better correct this trend fast…or maybe I could just be getting it wrong.
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