Wednesday, April 17, 2013

We'd like to spend a few minutes pointing out how BAD the New York Post is

It has long been said they tend to report now ask questions later. Normally these "errors" go unnoticed, unchallenged, or people simply don't care. This time it's beyond the pale, and we're challenging them.

The NY Post is still reporting twelve dead at the Boston Marathon bombing. Except as everyone who watches news knows that sadly three people died, not twelve. Are they sloppy again? Are they simply LYING to sell papers? Well tell you what, read this post by the Washington Post on the New York Post's dubious claims and see what you think:

One outlet that could shed light on the situation is the New York Post. Earlier today, the Erik Wemple Blog contacted the paper’s PR firm, Rubenstein Strategic Communications and Media Relations. At the same time, we tried getting someone in the paper’s newsroom to chat about the reporting. A call to an administrator got me bounced to a New York Post bureau; someone there gave me a cell-phone number for a reporter whose name was listed at the bottom of one of the paper’s 12-dead pieces. The reporter declined to answer questions about the death toll and referred me to a number where we could get some answers. When we asked for the name of an editor who could speak for the stories, the reporter declined. “The people who answer the phone, I believe, will direct you to the proper person,” said the reporter. The people who answered the phone referred me to the PR firm.

Wow, what a way to run a news business. Left hand meet right hand. So, like the Washington Post rightly points out:

If so, it has a stupendous law-enforcement source, one that knows far more than the FBI, the Massachusetts governor, the Boston mayor and everyone else who has gone on record about the tragic events of yesterday afternoon. And that source is sitting on information at odds with the consistent statements that public officials and medical officials have made across a number of news conferences since yesterday afternoon.

So for the sake of honesty, for the sake of real reporters reporting the actual news next time you're tempted to put coin in a NY Post box, think for a second and ask if you're about to buy it for the news or the sensationalism.

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