News Values

[poliphilo]

Now we're being told that the Brazilian man the police shot in Stockwell wasn't wearing a puffa jacket and didn't vault over the ticket barrier to escape.

This is the problem with our rolling 24 hour news services: reporters are so hungry for product they'll accept and process anything that comes their way- conjecture, rumour, misinformation, lies- and the obligation to speak to camera every fifteen minutes means that they don't have time to go check their "facts". More news means worse news.

Comments

Reality News

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time, a Press card/pass meant something. These days, I've noticed both the Beeb (especially) and Channel 4 running the "were you there/send us your stories/photos" line on their web sites. It's not that I've ever held journalists in especially high regard, but I wonder whether the instant gratification all round from the vox populi in our reality TV age causes some of this.

People make mistakes, and they also try to rationalise what they observe. So it's natural to hold on to a report that says the man had an unusually bulky jacket and jumped the barrier, and this report would drown out other accounts (which would no doubt be mutually inconsistent in any case).

Re: Reality News

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's quite startling how these days there's film of almost everything that happens. They were reporting the tornado in Birmingham this morning and- sure enough- someone had used their camera phone to shoot footage of roofs blowing off.