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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (114187)	5/17/2005 9:00:11 AM
From: gamesmistress	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793917

The Anchoress has posted an interesting email exchange between her and a friend who's a member of a network news team. Pithy analysis: A: You know what I think? I think we’ve been hearing these unsubstantiated charges made by Al Q prisoners for three years now, and it’s kind of like the “Bush/TANG/AWOL” story, just something that gets picked at and never proved, and the American public AND the WH finally just roll their eyes about it, because it’s been such a steady drumbeat of accusations. And I even think Newsweek didn’t think clearly about it, for this reason: They didn’t see a story in a Bible being used as toilet paper. They didn’t see a story in a crucifix being covered in urine. They didn’t see a story in an icon of Mary surrounded by cut outs of genitalia. They simply wouldn’t SEE the story thru the eyes of the Muslims. They have completely cut themselves out of the mindset of faith, to the point that they simply cannot imagine that what is meaningless to them has meaning for others, and they cannot anticipate responses, for that reason. Unless, they are anticipateing stereotypical responses of red-state “salivating morons.” NG: You may be right. They have little sensitivity when it comes to matters of religion, and no idea how deeply disturbing that kind of desecration is to people of faith, any faith. A: Hmmm…kinda like Tina Brown having no idea who incredibly insulting her post-conclave piece on Benedict XVI was to the Catholics? Forget it, don’t even bother answering that! :-) What would you say to someone who posits a theory that - for example - Newsweek DID in fact understand that it had a drop of poison in its vile but - knowing it was not well-sourced, they chose to drop it into the Periscopes section to see what would happen, if in fact, they could hit a mark, without anticipating all the rest of it to happen. Is that possible? Is that something a journalist would do - slip something out there, in a seemingly innocuous fashion, and wait to see if it hits a target? NG: Nah, not in my experience. I seriously doubt it. It’s more likely that a SOURCE with an agenda found a gullible accomplice in Newsweek. That the SOURCE wanted to unleash that poison and see what would happen. Who knows? I might have been someone at DOD who doesn’t like the way things are going. Or it might have been someone trying to intentionally put another stake through the heart of the media. But it’s entirely possible, whoever is behind it, didn’t realize they were opening a Pandora’s box. As someone said this morning on one of the chat shows (mixing my fantastic allegories) “There is real concern in Washington that the Islamic world will not believe Washington’s apology and explanation — and they won’t be able to get the genie back in the bottle.” theanchoressonline.com

To: John Carragher who wrote (114187)	5/17/2005 9:32:05 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793917

its not others responsibility to monitor Newsweek. No, not their responsibility. The responsibility is Newsweek's. But I would be cautious about criticizing Newsweek too vociferously for failing to recognize something that neither I nor anyone else recognized despite plenty of opportunity to do so.

To: John Carragher who wrote (114187)	5/17/2005 2:42:27 PM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793917

Just another nail in the coffin of a media organization I once trusted implicitly. I honestly don't know who to trust or believe any longer. But if I must trust one source over another......I'm strongly leaning towards bloggers. Regardless of the outcome, they seem to prefer telling the truth over everything else. I also believe we would all do ourselves a favor and rely more and more on multiple sources rather than one or two. Become mini detectives and vet stories for accuracy. I've been recommending that approach to my friends and family for quite awhile.