Malpractice: The Journalistic Assassination Of Ryan Lochte

Townhall.com ^ | August 25, 2016 | Derek Hunter

[Kaslin]

exactly

[Cecily]

If I were Lochte, I would tell Brazil that I would answer any questions via Skype or some other type of video conference. No need to go to Brazil to get shaken down for more money. Didn’t one of the other swimmers have to pay $10,000+ to be able to leave the country?

[JimRed]

My whole take on it is that you have to be careful when visiting 3rd world countries - and some small towns in the U.S.

Does that still do on? I remember riding north through Virginia with several other sailors on leave in the early 60s, the driver being pulled over for speeding when the limit went from 50 to 25 in an eyeblink, and being taken to the local magistrate. He asked the driver "how much money do you have?" That was the amount of the fine, to be paid immediately or be held for trial.

[CMAC51]

The article was not about Lochte’s behavior. It was about the grossly inaccurate and inflamitory reporting in the media. Apparently any media behavior is acceptable or excusable to you as long as you don’t have a dog in the fight.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Lochte lies.

The point of the article is that he didn’t - corrupt cops in Rio did. The moral of the story is that

The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing . . . The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. - Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)

We have come a long way since Samuel Morse’s 1844 demonstration of the telegraph. The best illustration of this is the story of the railroad VP who was traveling, and the train stopped to wait for the passage of an oncoming train. It was standard procedure to wait until that train passed; proceeding onto that single track before then could very easily get you killed. But after a while, the VP got on the telegraph, and inquired as to the status of the train they were awaiting. The reply was that it would be hours before that train would be able to proceed to where the VP was waiting for it.

On learning this, the VP ordered the engineer to proceed without waiting. The engineer demurred. The VP ordered the engineer to get in the caboose, saying he would run the train. Which he did, without incident. Today we have grown extremely credulous of reports coming to us over long distances, from people we haven’t even met. Because those reports are nearly always right - as long as the person sending the report isn’t selling something.

And the “something” that gets sold by reporters is the idea that although journalists admittedly are on the lookout only for negative or unusual stories, “all journalists are objective.” Well, news flash - if you think that telling only the bad news, and the news that does not usually happen, is objective then you are a cynic. And a natural socialist.