Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “The Dark Knight Rises, the Media Fall”

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July 22, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises, the Media Fall

Hatched by Korso

So almost immediately in the aftermath of the movie theater shootings in Colorado. ABC chief investigative reporter Brian Ross suggested a link between the alleged gunman James Holmes and the Tea Party Movement. Of course, it didn't take long to figure out that the "Jim Holmes" Ross found on a Tea Party website wasn't the same guy who shot up the theater -- but by then the meme had already been established, and the talking heads of the MSM were in full lip flapping mode: It's the gun culture! It's Rush Limbaugh's fault!

If none of this sounds familiar, it should. Much the same thing happened in the hours after the Gabby Giffords shootings last year -- and it was as boneheaded then as it is now.

The Baltimore Sun has a pretty decent takedown of this ugly episode, but it misses the larger point of how a so-called professional news organization like ABC could get suckered into making such a rookie mistake. That's because what Ross did wasn't a mistake -- it was a deliberate act, and one which had very little to do with being the first to get a big scoop.

The truth is that the MSM have been trying to nail the Tea Party from the very beginning, branding it as violent and racist even though they have no evidence to back up either claim. Compare that to the kid-gloves treatment given to the Occupy movement, which has been rife with actual violence and racism, and you'll notice the pattern. The left, it seems, can't get bad publicity even when it tries.

Which brings us back to Brian Ross and ABC news. They made an assumption about the Colorado shooter and then hoped that the facts would eventually bear them out. They reported it the way they did because they wanted it to be true. And when it turned out to be false? Meh, no big deal. Maybe we'll get them next time.

That's the kind of thing that should get a reporter fired.

Alas, that's not how the modern newsroom works. And the MSM wonder why nobody believes them anymore.

Hatched by Korso on this day, July 22, 2012, at the time of 9:34 AM

Comments

The following hissed in response by: kentuckydan

They made an assumption about the Colorado shooter and then hoped that the facts would eventually bear them out.

Not so sure. I mean of course that would have been a major bonus, but I think they work on the theory that any time you get a chance to sling some mud, sling it some of it will stick no matter what the truth. They are too consistant in this type of activity.

The above hissed in response by: kentuckydan at July 24, 2012 1:14 AM