Old dogs can learn new tricks. So can old reporters. I listened to Obama's speech on race and thought his comments about "white resentment" would get a thorough going over by the news media. It didn't. I dug out the text of his remarkable speech to make sure I heard right. I did. He acknowledged that working whites had concerns over affirmative action, making me wonder if the SF Chronicle dodged this one because of its shameful handling of the fire department's "swastika incident" and the near obliteration of the Zebra murders from city history.
I had a similar experience recently when I heard a television anchor report that a new study found no link between Saddam and al-Qaida. That was about the extent of the report. I asked my wife,"What else is new?" I then read the report by Institute for Defense Analyse. which had a great deal more to say, including Saddam's financial support for suicide bombers in Gaza and the West Bank as well as helping develop car bombs and explosive vests. The report said "captured Iraqi documents uncovered that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism."
My guess is that someone got an advanced look at the report summary, which mentioned lack of al-Qaida and ran with that. Then "lemming journalism" went to work. Twenty years ago that would have been the end of the story. Today, it is just the start because the net can hold reporters and editors accountable - in minutes.
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