Breaking News: Mainstream media exaggerates truth
18 Oct
In the 24/7 cable news cycles, media channels are doing everything to attract viewers and beat their competitors.
(RT, 10/19/2010) — As a result, many non-stories are dressed up with dramatic music and flashy graphics to portray drama, fear and capture the attention of American viewers. On a regular basis, in breaking news situations, channels get the facts wrong and make bold connections with little or no evidence.
Recently, Fox News reported that New Yorkers spotted a UFO flying over NYC. Hours later, it turns out the mysterious object was in fact a bunch of balloons.
In another recent breaking news incident, Fox News reported that the Brooklyn Bridge was shut down. The anchor then said that this was happening on the same day as the Pakistani Taliban had decided to target NYC again, after the failed Times Square bombing attempt. Minutes after linking the two unrelated incidents, Fox came back with a breaking news alert saying that the situation was all clear and the mysterious package had nothing to do with the Taliban – instead it was just a suspicious flashlight.
Christopher Chambers, a journalism professor at Georgetown University in Washington took a look at the story.
“They can basically create their own experts who can back up whatever kind of thin level of corroboration there is and they can then link it to this story. Journalistically even in a 24 hour news cycle that linkage is probably the last thing they should say,” Chambers said.
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