while the Connecticut State Police and the Medical Examiner are tasked to take due time to produce a factual, accurate-as-possible report.that fits what they are told to make it fit... i don't trust them either
Posted on 01/01/2013 7:05:02 AM PST by marktwain
One good rule of thumb to bear in mind is that, in fast-moving news events, much of what the media report at the beginning is going to be erroneous, false, or fabricated outright. First, that's how they roll: people who go into the media want to change the world, and have no overarching moral structure or ethical framework beyond Marxian utilitarianism. Second, people go in the media because they like telling stories, and stories are best with a beginning, middle and end, and a good guy in a white hat and a bad guy in a black one: so that's how media stories come out. Third and last, their industry punishes tardiness in publication, but there are few or no consequences for falsehood, even deliberate falsehood. That's especially true if the falsehood furthers a standard media narrative.
You can see this by examining the post-exposure careers of prominent journalistic fabricators and frauds: all of them still write or deliver news for a living. Jayson Blair, a man whose name is the word-association prizewinner for "fabricated story", lectures on media ethics, for Christ's sake. That's like springing Bernard Madoff to lecture Wall Street on fiduciary duty, or entering Jeffrey Dahmer in Iron Chef, but media guys are like that.
The weapons of the Newtown school shooting are one of those things where reports have been all over the place. One problem with crummy jump-the-gun reporting is that it leaves all kinds of rubbish lying around. Journalists are never held accountable for their falsehoods and fabrications, let alone for the very predictable second-order effect of conflcting stories: long-legged conspiracy theories. We;ve been bombarded with Newtown conspiracy theories, most of which seem to suggest that somehow Eric Holder had the massacre staged to generate more demand for gun control.
If you've worked in government as we have, the very idea is preposterous. Government couldn't pour piss out of a boot, even with cartoon instructions printed on the boot itself, and now people think it pulled off a conspiracy for the ages? Certainly, the history of ATF operations like Wide Receiver and Fast & Furious shows that Holder and Co. wouldn't cavil morally at such a proposal, but if you look at what happened to those operations -- they were leaked and have gotten into the public consciousness despite a wide news blackout -- you have to realize that they couldn't do it.
But among the inept and nontransparent investigation of the Newtown massacre with its concomitant confusing official releases, the inept and dishonest performance of the media, and the primate-poo-flinging emanating from the conspiracy chimpanzee citadel, it's understandable folks are confused about what tools the creep-who-shall-go-unnamed was carrying when he set about his malevolent work. Others have handled this rather well, so we'll excerpt and link 'em for your edification.
First, Extrano's Alley:
Someone came by searching for “what type of guns did the newton killer use.”Assuming the event wanted was the weapons used in the Newtown, Connecticut mass shooting, the situation is nothing short of a mess.
via What Type Of Guns Did The Newtown Killer Use | Extrano's Alley, a gun blog.
Highly recommend Stranger's analysis there, although we don't think you'll want to suffer through the mainstream media speculative report playlist that's the video he hosts.
Here's an example of a blog report that starts off reading too much into early media reports, and then ends quoting the official statements.
Our take: the media reports are all over the place, but officialdom said he had a SIG and a Glock and a 5.56mm rifle on him, and at least one more gun in the car, and that all the killing but the suicide shot was done with the rifle. So we'll go with that until we see convincing evidence from credible sources of something different. (Connecticut State Police: credible. Conspiracy emails: not credible).
Bear in mind that the many websites now saying things like "there was no rifle" have no evidence for that proposition, and can only get to that point by selectively quoting the early, unreliable media reports. It's ironic that many of the people doing this profess very little trust in the mass media. You think the TV networks mostly sling bullshit, but you discredit the official report (Newtown, 9/11, Warren Commission) because it conflicts with something from an initial, hip-shot TV newser? Wait, what?
Remember that the media does have its incentives skewed in favor of an early, false report, while the Connecticut State Police and the Medical Examiner are tasked to take due time to produce a factual, accurate-as-possible report. Because people want information, information springs up to fill the demand in that interstitial period before officialdom publishes (which is why they should be issuing interim, factual reports) but that information springing up from dubious sources is BOGINT and should be disregarded.
Best available facts: rhe killer took a Bushmaster rifle and two pistols into the school. He did most if not all of the killing with the rifle. He then killed himself with one of the pistols. What weapon he used to murder his mother is not known.
I’m still amazed how many still say the AR was in the trunk.
Then, too, the MSM almost always filters out the red lest the public see BLUD!!!
Just as soon as I see or hear the term “point blank” I know the writer or speaker is an ignoramus and I give them no credibility at all.
The flip side is that the initial reports often contain the truth before it can be covered up with organized lying by those involved including the press.
I remember when JFK was shot and the media printed a photo of a guy holding up the 6.5MM Carcano and called it a "30-30". Heard that on TV as well. In that case, just non-informed reporters sounding off or not doing their homework - or both.
This Clinton item sounds interesting, but it may be one of those "false but accurate" Dan Rather-type reports.
Oh Hell, I mixed in the Clinton statement, that should have gone elsewhere. (I blame it on the morning after.)
while the Connecticut State Police and the Medical Examiner are tasked to take due time to produce a factual, accurate-as-possible report.that fits what they are told to make it fit... i don't trust them either
Yes, despite video evidence to the contrary.
The conspiracy nuts want to believe that he left the Bushmaster in the trunk, used handguns for the killing and that the use of the Bushmaster was then fabricated by the3 Obama Administration to drive an assault weapons ban.
I wish he hadn't used an "assault" weapon but, sadly, he did. And common sense agrees. Lanza wanted to kill as many people as possible. He was no idiot. Why would he have left the most effective weapon he had to accomplish this task in the trunk of his car? Answer: He didn't. The weapon in the trunk was a shotgun and at some later date in the investigation, authorities will tell us what make and model. But conspiracy nuts will continue to believe differently.
Actually, only a very few bloggers are still pushing the Bushmaster-in-the-trunk error. However, those bloggers and their pals have a large presence on FR.
And 50 years after the event, peoples will argue the media report was accurate and therefore the photo had to be faked.
Not only that, but the SAR (AR?) was also reported to be in the trunk of some other guy's car, some drug pusher or something. Or maybe the rifle belonged to the guy who was chased down and handcuffed in the woods. Or maybe it belonged to the other suspect who was seen being held in the front seat of the squad car......Or, maybe there was no rifle, or maybe there was. They're hard to identify, you know, I mean to be absolutely positive, it's not an easy thing to spot, really.....you know?
I am less interested in what gun he used, than I am interested in what soul numbing drug he used at a doctors orders. It seems in all these shootings, the guns change, but the class of drugs does not.
From the article:
(Connecticut State Police: credible. Conspiracy emails: not credible).
Women Raped by Connecticut State Police afraid to complain ...
(google it)
I’d like to offer a few comments. I’m exposed to many industries, Media being just one.
The Media is in such a competition to break news, that they frequently “shot gun blast” a bunch of crap so they can see what sticks : If something is wrong, they apologise (Or just brush it off) and if something is right, they proudly take credit for it. This is just how their business runs. It’s how they get ad revenue.
The cleanest of this was in when Sully brought down the plane in the New York River. NY1 (New York 1) broke the story, and kept the facts and video clear. I have to give them credit for this. Their researchers worked very quickly, and stood behind their info (The name of the pilot, the flight path, the plane type, the origin, etc)
Yet when we see these major news outlets spread out EVERYTHING they have (Like the Ft Hood shooting - and of course - Newtown) the result is disgusting. Shame goes on to WVIT News in Connecticut in this instance. During their live cast, they informed people how to circumvent police check points, get into neighborhoods, and ultimately broke the police line to mingle with police who were still in a hot crime scene. They hid behind bushes and made up all they could. One reporter going so far as to claim there was shooting all around him (Yet we heard no shots).
The good part of their “diligence” was the audio / witness / video capture of the person in the woods, the spread of the police search (The police were actively hunting at least a square mile around the school the first 60 minutes of the event, with radio chatter that suspects were seen).
And with all of this BS “information” being flung, we got a chance to filter the news ... for ourselves. It wasn’t Diane Sawyer telling us what happened, and what to think. It was us taking all of the information (Important, real, whatever) and thinking for ourselves.
and as a result - something amazing happens. We have seen that there is MORE evidence that a shooting never happened, than we see of a shooting actually happening. The mess and messiness of the media on that day took in a ton of interviews before giving a chance for recitation of lines and building up of “Characters”.
I want to repeat that. There is more evidence that a shooting DIDN’T take place, than there is that one DID take place.
That’s not loony conspiracy theory. Yes, we know that shots were fired, and people died. But the pure inundation of information has led us all to be more informed, and be able to compare video, audio and maps to get a clear picture of what we think happened.
Finally, as a part-time resident of Newtown I can tell you that the town is chock full of liberals. There are a few new england hold-outs, but mostly this is a town of multi-million dollar 1000 sqft houses with an acre of land. There are tons of zoning laws, bottles of water and prada handbags everywhere you go. The people are snooty and smug, and the police are called whenever a semi uses it’s jake-brake through town. I know their newspaper - A long-time company filled with talented and driven people (The Newtown Bee). Shannon Hicks and Scudder Smith are true professionals, and pillars of their community.
I really, really don’t see anyone in this town owning an AR15 or a Saiga shotgun. There are people who may keep a shotgun above the fireplace, or a revolver in an expensive safe somewhere. Even the police (Another good group of guys and gals) don’t even collect any serious firearm.
We have police reports, the state police threatening to prosecute people for “spreading rumors on social networking” , and the media building a case against a kid who wears slacks and button downs, plays video games, and was “Troubled”. They also called him “Goth”, and a psychopath.
Otherwise we have parents of deceased children who are laughing and working up fake tears. We have another couple who are STRIKINGLY similar to the parents of the child murdered by Jared Loughtner, radio reports of a burgundy car with jersey plates, a Civic with a plate that traces to another person, A very strange, very quick report that got Ryan Lanza pinned as a shooter within minutes. A VERY quick response from New Jersey police. A lot of confusion.
There don’t seem to be any good guys in this situation, but I’m not sure if i’m ready to dismiss the media as a bad guy.
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