From: "Ted White" <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Spy plane crash?
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 19:05:35 -0400

----- Original Message -----
From: "Elspeth Kovar" <ekovar at worldnet.att.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 3:25 PM
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Spy plane crash?

> At 09:56 AM 6/22/2005, Mike B. wrote:
>
> . . .
>
> >I'm always skeptical of reporters' abilities to get facts straight.
I've
> >seen too many stories where they got them wrong to believe otherwise
until
> >there's confirmation.
>
> You've said this a number of times before.  I, on the other hand, used to
> work for NPR.  I also know someone quite well whom reporters recently
> contacted for comment on something put out by the feds.  They not only
got
> the quotes right, they got the sense of what was being said and when on
to
> contact other people -- and got those right.
>
> Moreover, when something was said with a follow up of "That needs to be
> said but don't quote me on it" the reporter managed to very neatly get
the
> information into the article without it being connected in any way with
the
> person who said it.
>
> Yes, reporters get facts wrong, especially if the story is being done on
a
> tight deadline.  Pity that you've used that to discount all information
> that comes from the news.

There are two levels to "getting the facts wrong."   The first is the
important level: basic, important stuff.  Getting any of it wrong screws up
and makes questionable all the rest.

The second is the trivial level: background stuff, the color of so & so's
shoes.  Reporters often get bits of this wrong.  It has been said that
newspaper articles all seem fine *unless* you're familiar with the subject
of one of them.  Thus, the "Zap! went the ray guns!" coverage of some SF
conventions which causes us all to grind our teeth.

I was the subject of a newspaper article (in the old WASHINGTON DAILY NEWS,
and syndicated nationwide) when I was still in high school ("The Boy With
10,000 Comics!"), and it was full of small and unimportant errors -- and
was illustrated with a photo which showed no comics at all, just the
shelved spines of some of my pulp magazines.

So, I agree with you that reputable reporters don't get the *important*
stuff wrong, and it's a bonus when they pick up correctly on the
subtleties.

--Ted White