Media analysts have said that the country saw some of its finest news reporting in the months following the attacks of Sept. 11.
However, recent events are proving that that was short-lived. Need we remind you of Jayson Blair and the impulsive missteps by New York Post editors this summer?
And now there’s CBS’s recent debacle.
On its “60 Minutes” newsmagazine show, Dan Rather authenticated documents that cast doubt on President Bush’s Vietnam service. But after the broadcast aired, Rather and CBS became the target of skepticism as other news outfits questioned the anchorman’s investigation.
Upon receiving copies of the papers in question, many of them went so far as to conduct their own research.
Findings showed CBS’s errors. The memos in the documents from Bush’s Air National Guard records written by his squadron commander-may have been forged.
The sham would have been physical evidence that the president did not complete his service with the National Guard.
While it admits to having been diddled by their primary informant Bill Burkett, the network now joins the media club of woe mentioned above.
In a haste to be overachievers or standouts, it seems as if many news organizations are forgoing the fact-checking process and the fine combing of major details.
As a result, they are dying by the scoop which can only be expected from lazy reporting.
Yes, Rather should have asked the harder questions and probed further before attaching himself to such a misleading piece.
Your work ethic reflects your credibility, which is something that has to be maintained on a regular basis. It takes only one falter to become the poster boy of, “How can I trust the media?”
TPD fails to fight real crime, raising concern for city
How is it possible that two bodies can sit in a parked car for three days without someone reporting it to the police?
More importantly, how is it that the Tallahassee Police Department can seem to find an obscure house party hidden on a back street on a Saturday night, but have no idea about a double homicide until three days later?
No one has raised or attempted to answer these questions in any of the local media, but someone needs to.
Without a doubt, at this point, FAMU student Jamila Byers and TCC student Bryan Dyson cannot be brought back to life.
Their murders cannot be blamed on anyone but their still unknown killer. But this whole situation just raises concern in the community.
Either the murderer did a “great” job in covering his (or her) trail or the Tallahassee Police Department is just not prepared to deal with real crime.
Murders don’t happen often in Tallahassee, but when they do, it seems as if all hell breaks lose.
The police department goes crazy searching for leads, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is called in to investigate and the newspapers and television stations go crazy because there’s actually “real news” to report.
At the bottom of this situation is a problem that must be addressed. Tallahassee needs to stop treating murder as a spectacle and partying as a crime.