Newsweek Credibility Down The Drain

• May 16, 2005

As I pointed out before, this is no small matter. People have been hurt and killed based on some highly biased information obtained from an anonymous source. An apology isn’t going to make this go away. Now that we know Newsweek’s reporting was false the question that needs to be asked is this: Who was the anonymous source? Newsweek owes this person no loyalty in keeping them anonymous as they obviously lied to Newsweek’s reporters about the Koran flushing incidents. Yet my guess is that Newsweek will still refuse to reveal their source.
Which makes one wonder if there actually was a source or if Newsweek was just engaging in some scandalous America-bashing for the sake of magazine sales.
More here.
Update:
Jay Tea:

…bring on the abuse, the sanctions, the penalties for Newsweek. Ban their reporters from covering events. Contact and boycott their advertisers. Pillory them in public. Blame them for the damage to our diplomatic efforts. Mock them. Deride them. Taunt them. Make them stand in the corner at press events while wearing silly hats. Use back issues as toilet paper.
But don’t hold them liable for the deaths. To do that is to excuse the real people to blame — the rioters themselves.

That’s a good point. Newsweek isn’t to be blamed for the irrational response to their story by the Muslims who rioted. That being said, I still think there is grounds here for an investigation into who the anonymous source is, if one existed in the first place.

Tags: General

http://Array LoadTheMule

That wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t my point LoadTheMule. It was meant to be a humorous take of a sometimes real occurance.

Sorry, likwidshoe. Even I get a little pissy sometimes and miss the humor. *grin*

Regards…
LoadTheMule

As an aside, about your name. I’m a very linear thinker and don’t want to get it wrong.

Is it likwid-shoe as in wet footwear
or
likwids-hoe as in you’re a gardener?
SirRobert

One thing that has bothered me about this whole thing is how do you flush a Koran? My toilet clogs on a few paper towels. I couldn’t flush a comic book if I wanted to. If the book was really, really small, or ripped out page by page, I probably could with enough time. But the odds are the toilet would clog, overflow, and look stupid rather than intimidating.

Is flipping a book down an outhouse the same thing? That is easily done, but does the act have the same panache?

Whether this report was accidental, intentional, or otherwise, it will bring another wave of news gatherers to the blogs and away from traditional media.

As mentioned on other threads, at least Newsweek apologized. But how can one apologize after 16+ were killed and 100′s wounded in rioting. Can Newsweek do anything to remedy the situation?
http://sayanythingblog.com/ likwidshoe

Sorry, likwidshoe. Even I get a little pissy sometimes and miss the humor. *grin*

A tit for a tat. It recently happened with me misreading one of your comments. It’s a perfect illustration of what I was talking about when I had before mentioned that text often reads flat. You didn’t get to see the smile on my face when I typed it. And I don’t like using those gay looking smileys, so…
http://sayanythingblog.com/ likwidshoe

Is it likwid-shoe as in wet footwear
or
likwids-hoe as in youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re a gardener?

Hahaha. It is likwid as in a dance that makes the body look like liquid. And the shoe part I just pulled out of my ass because likwid is fairly common on the Internet. I wanted something unique that would only bring up me.
SirRobert

Simply revealing a source and firing folks may prevent a similar situation in the future, but will it change one opinion in Afghanistan (or other rioting countries). No.

A lot of people made up their minds with the initial report and I doubt there is anything anyone can do or say to stem the anti-American hatred. The anti-American forces are just looking for any excuse to incite the public, and Newsweek irresponsibly tossed them a softball.

If the charges of flushing a large book down a 2 1/4 inch pipe were true, would it still be responsible for Newsweek to push the story knowing how the Islamic world would react?
http://sayanythingblog.com/ likwidshoe

See that a couple of heads roll…

That’s probably not the best choice of words considering the subjects we are talking about.
LoadTheMule

Agreed, Rob. I don’t give a flying flip about the magazine itself. But the public has a right to know who the original source for the info was.

Regards…
LoadTheMule

That’s probably not the best choice of words considering the subjects we are talking about.

I’m not about to change the way I speak/write simply because of the tenor of the times. But thanks for your concern.

Regards…
http://sayanythingblog.com/2005/12/11/covering-propaganda/ Say Anything – North Dakota&#8

&heellip; And remember that Newsweek story about American troops flushing the Korans of detainees down the toilet? On that one the media had to eschew skepticism entirely and embrace a sort of willful naivete in order to report the story with a straight face, because while they were telling us what an awful thing it is to see your holy book flushed down the toilet most of us at home were scratching our heads wondering how any book could possibly be flushed down the toilet. It turned out that the story was entirely false, but the damage was already done. Scores of Muslims in the middle east rioted in response to the story and some people lost their lives in the furor. &heellip;
LoadTheMule

Yes, Newsweek can do two things:

1 – Reveal the (obviously) bogus source of their original information.

2 – See that a couple of heads roll at the magazine for not doing a better job of verifying the information before going to press with it.

Anyone wanna wager whether either of these happen? *ha*

Regards…
http://sayanythingblog.com/ Aaron

Likwid he certainly is…
http://sayanythingblog.com/ likwidshoe

I’m not about to change the way I speak/write simply because of the tenor of the times. But thanks for your concern.

That wasn’t my point LoadTheMule. It was meant to be a humorous take of a sometimes real occurance.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

I want Newsweek to reveal their source on this not so much because I want to take down Newsweek itself but because I believe this anonymous source needs to be fired from his/her position and charged criminally before they leak more information that gets people killed.

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Newsweek Credibility Down The Drain

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