Tragic Evil and Stupid Journalism

[Valin]

PJ Media:

Andrew Klavan

4/17/13

 

Despite various excuses and rationalizations, it seems pretty clear that the mainstream media failed in their obvious responsibility to cover the evil-drenched story of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell because they feared it would reflect badly on the practice of abortion. Having shamelessly used the horrific Newtown massacre to push useless and unconstitutional infringements on our right to bear arms, the lefty press naturally assumed that those they despise would use the same sort of tactics here, shamelessly using baby murders to push legislation against… well, baby murders.

 

Likewise, their coverage of the recent Boston massacre has been fraught with the same sort of anxiety. As I write, a suspect has been reported to be arrested — God send it’s the right one — but as we waited for law enforcement to do its work, speculation as to the possible motives of the bomber was powered by the question: Who will get to use this murder to make his case? Would those who see Islam as wicked get to point their fingers at the brain-dead multi-culturalist establishment? Would the media be forced to play down the murderers’ connections to Occupy Wall Street or the Democratic party? Would Chris Matthews get to draw false comparisons between white supremacy groups and the Tea Party? A particularly worthless look-at-me post at Salon was headlined “Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American.” Oh yes, let’s! It’s all just so suspenseful, isn’t it? Whose evil is it and who will get to turn it into political hay?

 

That all this eagerness to claim bragging rights over the dead is low and degraded and shameful goes without saying. But it’s stupid too. Whether we close our eyes to the Gosnell case or not, the nature of abortion will remain exactly what it is. Whether the Boston killer is a Muslim or not, a cancer of violence continues to eat into that religion, raising questions for its millions of innocent practitioners. White Supremacy is an ugly and despicable philosophy whether supremacists are the killers this time or not — and conflating the Tea Party with such bigotry will still be slander either way. And socialism is still stealing by force of government, whether or not the bombing is another in the long list of rotten acts by Occupiers.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Hijacking crises for fun and profit

Ed Morrissey

4/18/13

 

an this week produce any more sterling examples of media irresponsibility? I’m not talking about the faceplant for John King and CNN (and for that matter, the Associated Press) in proclaiming that law enforcement was making/had made an arrest in the Boston Marathon bombing case. Getting burned by sources happens, which is why journalists usually wait for confirmation — especially on a scoop that doesn’t really need a “first!” declaration.

 

No, I’m talking about the David Sirotas of the world who glom onto tragedy and crisis in order to sell their pet theories and climb on hobby horses without the added burden of actually accounting for facts. That didn’t just take place with the Boston Marathon bombing, either. As I noted earlier this week, the murders of two Texas DAs and one of their spouses had been exploited by news media, especially MSNBC, as either evidence of a rising wave of white-supremacist violence, Mexican drug cartels declaring war on America, or (most amusingly) both. Larry O’Donnell (again, MSNBC) went on air last night to blame the NRA’s opposition to mandatory taggants in ordinary gunpowder as the reason the FBI hadn’t caught the Boston bomber, even though no one has yet even been able to identify the bomber himself.

 

It’s bad enough when the media does this. It’s much worse when politicians exploit crises for political gain. My column for The Fiscal Times focuses on the kind of irresponsibility that actually has an impact on our wallets — legislative demagoguery. Without having the benefit of knowing anything about what took place in Boston,

 

(Snip)

 

 

Why not wait for the evidence before advancing either claim? And why root for the ethnicity of the perpetrators rather than just simply hope and pray that the real perpetrators will soon be identified and arrested? That’s what Dennis Miller wondered last night, too:

 

http://youtu.be/-o2QcuNv9GQ

[Valin]

http://youtu.be/QqV4eCaLZ-o