Smear The Troops Campaign In High Gear
In a completely new low for journalism, the AP elevates a baseless charge by a supposed eyewitness who refuses to be named, hides his face from the camera and who's story cannot be verified by anyone into a screaming headline. Never mind that the allegation is so far-fetched that only a complete fool would even listen to it. Never mind that the allegation directly contradicts the fact that Iraqi units were first on the scene.
Publish and smear - heck you can always issue a "correction" later, right?
The witness, who lives near the house where al-Zarqawi spent his last days, said he saw the man lying on the ground near an irrigation canal. He was badly wounded but still alive, the man told Associated Press Television News.
U.S. troops arriving on the scene wrapped the man's head in an Arab robe and began beating him, said the local man, who refused to give his name or show his face to the camera. His account could not be independently verified.
Absolute crap. The reporter knows it, the editors know it and it doesn't pass even the most rudimentary level of acceptable journalistic practice. But the AP elevates it to the lead and the headline. This one sentence buried all the way at the bottom of the steaming pile the smear artist produced out of one of his orifices article completely negates the screaming headline and proves this to be an agenda-driven smear:
The Iraqi government confirmed only that Iraqi forces were first on the scene, followed by the Americans.
This crosses a line. A big one. Any lawyers out there know if this is actionable?
UPDATE: AP has changed the headline to read "Iraqi raises questions on al-Zarqawi death". Bruce Kesler has thoughts.
UPDATE: Many thanks to Gina Cobb for linking. Likewise the Sundries Shack.
Other Links to this Post
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justbarkingmad.com » Blog Archive » How to deal with the AP — Saturday, 10 June , 2006 @ 3:36 pm
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Stop The ACLU — Saturday, 10 June , 2006 @ 4:13 pm
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » Details On The Zarqawi Safe House — Sunday, 11 June , 2006 @ 9:48 am
By Quilly Mammoth, Saturday, 10 June , 2006 @ 3:14 pm
Man, does this crap piss me off. Like the Emperor Misha says: Rope, tree, journalist…some assembly required.
And then some other Journaltard will comment about the increase in violence. Gee, ya think?
By Gaius, Saturday, 10 June , 2006 @ 3:20 pm
Yeah, my son read this one. He was furious.
By Ali, Saturday, 10 June , 2006 @ 3:58 pm
Remember when reporting meant facts?
BTW, on CBS site it has yet another title.
Not only did they change the title and story at the same URL, they listed cowriters below… as if folks are stupid and it didn’t help the quality of the story. All of a sudden, we get the guys name and it’s not the same he had a beard like Zarqawi, they found him by the irrigation canal on the ground yet they pulled him from the house, the US troops used a standard issue Arab robe to wrap his head and beat him even though Iraqis were there first (as the article itself states several times). Please. I guess Patrick (the sixteen year old from Florida who flew to Iraq just to see (?) and happened to walk through the war zone to my desk) Quinn needed some help.