The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’

Posted on | April 15, 2013 | 32 Comments

People doing live breaking news on TV have to fill hours and hours of air time. We understand this. But do they understand this?

At different points during the day, I had the TV on three different cable channels: Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. None of them have covered themselves in glory — Allah has video of CNN’s Wolf Blitzer yammering pointlessly — but Chris Matthews was atrocious beyond description.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to stick to the facts at Viral Read. Kinda busy being Editor in Chief on a day like this. It involves lots of cussing.

 

Category: Journalism, Terrorism

Comments

32 Responses to “When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’”

  1. BinhoaAyesta
    April 15th, 2013 @ 8:01 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’ http://t.co/YazmOfQ3cB #TCOT

  2. Bob Belvedere
    April 15th, 2013 @ 8:02 pm

    And you’ve done a damn fine job over at VR, you and the Crew.

  3. KingShamus
    April 15th, 2013 @ 8:03 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’ http://t.co/YazmOfQ3cB #TCOT

  4. Dan Collins
    April 15th, 2013 @ 8:27 pm

    Dan Collins liked this on Facebook.

  5. Other News Today | The Lonely Conservative
    April 15th, 2013 @ 8:51 pm

    […] Boston Marathon this afternoon. As usual, the initial coverage was pretty bad, with news anchors filling up time with speculation. I understand that essential information needs to get out there, but it would be nice if they […]

  6. M. Thompson
    April 15th, 2013 @ 9:12 pm

    Saying that Chris Matthews is a complete idiot is like saying rain is wet and snow is cold these days.

  7. Dandapani
    April 15th, 2013 @ 9:14 pm

    Well, I have it on good faith from Oblamo that this wasn’t a terrorist act and given his track record and propensity to whitewash acts like this, this guarantees it was an Muslim extremist or Jihadist involved.

  8. Christy Waters
    April 15th, 2013 @ 9:33 pm

    Thank you for expressing the frustration I’ve felt all day with the damn media.

  9. John LaRosa
    April 15th, 2013 @ 9:49 pm

    Stacy–Your Boston buddies are all OK and more than ready for the next #unsustainablebartab, but (Blogger/Red Mass Group owner) Rob Eno’s cousin is still in surgery.

  10. John Bradley
    April 15th, 2013 @ 10:04 pm

    “Biden was on a conference call…”

    Fine, so I guess that means he’s got an alibi.

  11. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 15th, 2013 @ 10:27 pm

    Just the news, thank you very much! You have that old school style RSM! (I linked this and the VR stuff).

  12. Charles
    April 15th, 2013 @ 10:51 pm

    The local news here in Boston has been surprisingly good.

  13. SDN
    April 15th, 2013 @ 10:59 pm

    But does Bill Ayers?

  14. Gerard Vanderleun
    April 15th, 2013 @ 11:36 pm

    I’m sorry but don’t you mean UZAAL AEAO?

  15. Boston Marathon Bombing Update: Search Warrant Executed? Suspected Spotted Dropping Bombs in Trash Cans? - Conservative Hideout 2.0
    April 16th, 2013 @ 12:14 am

    […] When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’ […]

  16. Adjoran
    April 16th, 2013 @ 12:15 am

    The speculation is the most maddening, and would be even if it weren’t always with a far leftward tilt. But a close second is the constant inviting guest “experts” (defined in these circumstances as “someone the audience may recognize or accept as an authority on some aspect of terrorism, security, investigations, marathons, or the Greater Boston Area”) to speculate on their own.

    “On the phone with us now is Gerald Simpson, who was a security guard at Cloverleaf Mall in Chesterfield County, Virginia, in the early 1980s. Gerald, does this ‘feel’ like al Qaeda to you?”

  17. Shawny Lee
    April 16th, 2013 @ 12:45 am

    Of course there’s always the possibility that Obutthead will later classify it as sports related violence like the Fort Hood murders were “workplace violence” even if it was a terrorist attack. Waiting for the State Dept. to issue a statement regarding what the victims might have done to piss off the terrorists and bring this horrific attack on themselves. Must be someone they could arrest for some video somewhere.

  18. Mr. Michael
    April 16th, 2013 @ 1:07 am

    Thank you so very much for the straight news… I cannot TELL you how grateful I am… how I’ve missed that. When can we register at Viral Feed (it’s closed for now)? And will Viral Feed get an RSS feed? I would really like to add it as a main news source for my daily reads.

  19. Good Stuff
    April 16th, 2013 @ 5:45 am

    From the Minister of Misinformation, in future all media citations must fit within strictly defined classifications: unnamed, well-placed, unnamed well-placed, official, unofficial, official unnamed, official well-placed, reliable, unnamed reliable, well-placed reliable, and official unnamed well-placed.

  20. Adobe_Walls
    April 16th, 2013 @ 6:58 am

    Some of the responses in the immediate aftermath of the
    Boston marathon bombing perfectly capture the difference between Bolsheviks and Conservatives. As reported by Ed Driscoll …”the New York Times’ Nick Kristof
    wastes no time politicizing the story:explosion is a reminder that ATF needs a director. Shame on Senate Republicans for blocking apptment”
    articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-01/wor…

    — Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) April 15, 2013
    As does Luke Russert of NBC, attempting to find a Waco
    connection to the bombings.

    Meanwhile John Stossel tweets, “If you’re in Boston and can donate blood, here are the locations.”

    Really does say it all don’t it.

  21. Finrod Felagund
    April 16th, 2013 @ 9:44 am

    Bloody ghouls.

  22. WyBlog - Thoughts on the Boston Bombing, we don't know what we don't know yet
    April 16th, 2013 @ 10:12 am

    Thoughts on the Boston Bombing, we don’t know what we don’t know yet…

    Anyway, Stacy McCain is right ? at this stage of the investigation we don’t know anything yet. Motive? Unknown. Perpetrator(s)? Unknown. Potential followups or copycats? Unknown, but it’s prudent to be wary….

  23. A Bunch of People Violently Died, Which Means It’s Time for Chris Matthews to Beclown Himself. | Andrew J. Patrick
    April 16th, 2013 @ 10:30 am

    […] And Outrage becomes cliche. […]

  24. Thoughts on the Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack | The Political Hat
    April 16th, 2013 @ 11:05 am

    […] the additional information rolling in, the breaking news that has been covered admirably and not so admirably elsewhere, and the aftermath.  I have little that can add or subtract from that in that […]

  25. Rob Crawford
    April 16th, 2013 @ 11:32 am

    Except Gerald may have spent time studying the issue, unlike the empty-headed know-nothings they usually bring on.

  26. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 16th, 2013 @ 12:38 pm

    Matthews gets tingles thinking of white supremacists scenario tea partiers because it reinforces his twisted view of the world. In the unlikely scenerio of a right or left wing wacko doing this, I would fear the erosion of civil liberties at home.

    The attack appears to have the pattern of a Jihadi terrorist attack. It may not be. But it is not an irrational guess at this point.

  27. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 16th, 2013 @ 12:39 pm

    I do not mind some speculation in terms of blogging or opinion, but what makes it maddening is couching it as “news.”

  28. LeatherPenguin
    April 16th, 2013 @ 1:01 pm

    […] The 24/7 news outlets yesterday were, collectively, atrocious in their coverage. As the ineffably brutal Stacy McCain tweeted: […]

  29. Thus Spake Russ » Boston Bombing Speculation
    April 16th, 2013 @ 3:56 pm

    […] We. Do. Not. Know. […]

  30. Shorter @DylanByers: ‘Hurry Up, FBI, So We Can Start the Media Blame Game!’ : The Other McCain
    April 16th, 2013 @ 6:40 pm

    […] April 15: When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’ […]

  31. Animal’s Hump Day News | Animal Magnetism
    April 17th, 2013 @ 6:32 am

    […] When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’  When mentioning Chris Matthews, by the way, one should always take care to use his full title:  “That idiot Chris Matthews.” […]

  32. Great Reporting by @Liberty_Chick – ‘Boston Bombers: What We Do and Don’t Know’ | The Camp Of The Saints
    April 21st, 2013 @ 7:44 pm

    […] is ‘Just The Facts, Ma’am’ Reporting at it’s […]