They Got It Wrong, People Suffered

Wednesday April 17, it was embarrassing to be a part of the news media.

Early in the morning, CNN and other networks and news sources began reporting the "arrest of a suspect in the Boston bombing."

The general public was excited. I know my friends were. Imagine the thrill of the victims of this horrible tragedy. Justice for this vile crime will come quickly !

The new tragedy: It was NOT TRUE.

How could such a mistake happen?

Basic journalistic standards were not followed. All the printed and some of the spoken reports I read and heard said something like this: "According to individuals close to the investigation, but not authorized to speak...." and, "sources requesting anonymity said....."

Attribution (sources with names and faces) used to be an important journalistic standard. Not anymore. Now it is more important to be "first" than to be right, correct,  accurate, and dare I say honest.

I want to fire every person responsible for this 'reporting' travesty. Network writers, editors, producers, and even the on air reporters should go. I don't care if they had their jobs for 20 minutes or 20 years.

The victims of the bomb blast, and now victims of this reporting, should sue the networks for 'pain and suffering.' That's a jury I would like to be on.

This country has problems. Some of them huge.

It is obvious we can't trust our federally elected officials. Equally, obvious, there are many corporate leaders deserving of our contempt.

National media, and some local too, have joined the list of organizations we should distrust, dislike, and disdain.