Ugggh. I live outside of Pittsburgh and heard a lot of this. One of the local journalists covering the Somerset County accident, pardon my language, was just about cuming all over himself at the accident scene.
“If you could see what we were able to get a look at earlier–the police have since rounded us up and pushed the journalists all the way back here, and we can’t get that shot anymore–but, let me tell you, if you could see it, there will be no one walking away from this. It is just utter devestation. There will be no survivors here, folks…”
I was sooo frustrated listening to this guy. Being pretty much drained by the events of the day, I couldn’t even visualize hitting him over the head with his microphone. I just wanted to tear him away from the “moment” of it all, get him a cup of coffee and talk a little bit about the lives lost, not the ratings gained, help him have some perspective on what he was covering.
–moi, who was glad her journalism degree was being used on Web design and didn’t take her into any of yesterday’s terror
P.S. RickJay, I almost forgot…your post was tremendous. Really the first bit of sarcasm I’ve been able to handle. Reminiscent of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” a poem I read in H.S. I’d find a link, but I’m goin’ to bed instead…
There was a bipartisan commission set to deal with domestic terrorist attacks. The new administration decided that they had better ideas, but the media also had other ideas:
Yes, the terrorists are responsible for the deed, but even in Pearl Harbor rear admiral Kimmel was disgraced. In the current case, I think the media deserves some disgrace. I guess there was always plenty of time for Gary Condit, but very little time to concentrate in our lax security.
The media has been so busy protecting us from the threat of shark attack, how can you possibly expect them to focus on something so trivial as international terrorism?
Sylvia Browne, who has been the subject of my first ever pit rant gets special mention here. She claimed the day after the event that SHE PREDICTED IT! Self-serving fucking goat-blowing pipe-screwing whore! May she rot in hell.
Her prediction by the way:
“More terrorist attacks in Florida and London.”
This prediction was for 1999.
There was a hideous example of “press trying to fabricate a reaction in an interviewee” abuse that had me frothing mad.
This bitch of a CBS reporter, I wish I remembered her name so I could send some serious hate mail to CBS, was on the streets after the second plane hit but before the tower collapse.
On camera, she pulled away a fireman rushing to some task and shoved her mike in his face. She then knelt down in front of him, scooped up a handful of dust and rubble, and held it in front of the face of the fireman. There, with dust trickling through her fingers, she says “Can you tell America what this is, what I’m holding in my hand? Can you identify this?”
The fireman’s face was simply dazed with the non-sequiter blow, and turned without saying a word and kept walking. The worst part of it all is that this poor man is probably dead now.
Hart and Salon are on the left, so they blame Bush. This report was released in 1999 when Clinton was President. There were Congressional hearings at that time to publicize it. Clinton’s the one who ought to have paid attention (or at least someone in his administration.)
Has anyone else noticed how incredibly tired Peter Jennings has been looking? When he finally got off the camera about 2 AM on Wednesday morning, I swear he was about to fall over. First time I have ever seen a news anchor simply turn around and walk off with their back to the camera.
All things considered, despite yawning and blinking and trouble speaking, he was still doing a pretty decent job for a guy who’d been on the air for about 17 straight hours.
Aside from taxing Peter Jennings to his limits, I can’t really complain too much about the media. Sure there were some bad things, a few of them inexcusable, but when taken as a percentage of all media coverage over the past few days, it’s pretty understandable that not everything will be to my liking.
This was not only the left december, the commission actually STARTED in 1999 but the bipartisan commission gave the final report on March 15, 2001:http://www.mipt.org/srchnatlstrat03272001c.html
Looking at the Salon article again:
So there was another report in January, I do think Clinton should have done better but Bush had already more than 7 months to implement changes.
Anyhow, this tread should deal with the irresponsible media. In that regard I insist that the Media should have their feet put in the coals for failing to do a better job at investigating our lax security, after we mourn the dead of course.
In my rounds of the major news websites, I saw that CNN is currently running one of those polls that asks “What are your feelings about Tuesday’s events?” and the choices are A. Sorrow, B. Shock, or C. Anger.
Well geez louise, has CNN never heard of “all of the above?” Come on, is there anyone out there who doesn’t feel some combination of those three? Way to keep your finger on the pulse of America, CNN.
And since this is the Pit, I now have a bone to pick with RickJay. You do realize that now I’m going to have to listen to dopey sappy songs to see if anyone does really rhyme “child’s eyes” with “high rise”? My god, the humanity.
The ABC morning show ‘pundits’ had on the guy who runs the flight school in Florida that 2 or more of the hijackers attended. I don’t know what this womans’s name is(the co-host along with Charles Gibson) but I was irritated by her questions.
She was practically blaming the poor guy. She’s saying “so they just walk right and pay the fee and show them how pilot these planes without any investigation at all…” WTF??? This guy’s suppossed to do a fucking background check??? Ask for freaking references??? Check their teeth???
They were in the country legally. They were already expereinced pilots. They paid the fucking fees! This guy has nothing to do with it, moron.
The local (Orlando) affiliates have pissed me off. First is the 24-hour coverage of this story to the exclusion of everything else. Did you know there’s a tropical storm about to hit Florida? That it will make landfall tonight, and I’m right in it’s path? Maybe it would’ve been nice to know about it before this morning. Too late to do anything now except sit tight and hope for the best.
Second is the way the (IIRC) Fox affiliate kept referring to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. ERAU offers an Aeronautical Science degree (professional pilot), and although they don’t appear to be involved, they’re taking heat for having a large number of international students. Anyway, the reporters kept saying to the effect that they “offer training for terrorists to take control of a plane after a hijacking.” I was an engineering student so maybe I missed it, but I don’t remember seeing “AS305 - Hijacking and Terrorism” in the course catalogue.
I would like to add now, a few days later, that MOST of the press has acted admirably.
I was touched that national news stations were giving family and friends an opportunity to show pictures of their loved ones in an effort to locate them.
I have heard some reporters ask some pretty inane questions of these people. However, I chalk most of it up to either trying to fill up some dead air or simply not knowing how to react to a tragedy of this magnitude.
Well it wouldn’t be any fun to pick on good journalism now would it? I forget which station this was, but earlier today the reporter was reading some dumbshit poetry about the World Trade Center collapse.
