Posted on 09/05/2004 10:58:13 PM PDT by crushelits
This headline has been on Yahoo.com more than 18 hours. Bush's National Guard file missing records.
Remember the AP article: The Associated Press, a powerful worldwide news source owned by its member daily newspapers, has perpetrated a vile and slanderous lie about President Bush and his supporters, and been caught read-handed. The smoking gun exists safe and sound in the cache memory of countless blog sites. The AP's reporter wrote a dispatch claiming that when President Bush told a rally of his supporters in West Allis, Wisconsin that President Clinton had been hospitalized, “the audience "of thousands booed. Bush did nothing to stop them."
Within seconds, the AP dispatch went around the world, and the lie was repeated. In point of fact, eyewitnesses and listeners to radio and television reports could hear that there was no audible booing, but there was supportive applause when the President called on everyone to pray for ex-President Clinton’s recovery.
Unfortunately for the AP, we live in the age of the blogosphere. Almost as quickly as the lie was spread, bloggers started work documenting the report and its factual refutation. Recordings of the crowd's reaction, contradicting the AP, are avilable to anyone on the web, courtesy of America's blogforce.
Caught, the AP behaved disgracefully. They pulled the byline appearing on the report, one Tom Hays, who appears to work in New York, and issued a corrected report, changing “boos” to “oohs,” perhaps to protect itself and claim an innocent mistake. Of course, that would not explain the “Bush did nothing to stop them” slander.
Even more tellingly, AP moved to cover its tracks, pulling the original report from the Lexis/Nexis database, effectively throwing it into Orwell’s Memory Hole. Jonathan Last summarized its behavior as follows:
First of all, good for the AP for fixing the faulty reporting and including what seems to be an accurate description of the Republican crowd's reaction to bad news about President Clinton's health.
Yahoo has replaced the headline with one which reads:
Bush's National Guard file missing records
I think that they know precisely what they are doing!
Anyone here who subscribes to a newspaper can help by threatening to cancell their subcription if AP does not clean up their act.
When polls suggest that Kerry is ahead it's "Kerry shown to have Commanding Lead". LOL
I was hoping the booing account was true.
There isn't much that can be done about "freedom" of the press, as it's protected in the constitution.
But one would think lawsuits for slander would keep it more "honest". I don't know what can be done about bias however, or other inaccuracies.
Thank goodness for the internet and Blogs.
After what their reporter, Mr. Hays, did re: the "supposed" booing at the Bush Rally in WI when he told the crowd about Bill Clinton being hospitalized; the AP has lost their credibility for awhile.
My local TV station in Seattle is bringing up Bush's National Guard record tonight. Haven't they heard anything about Kerry's bogus medals? Oh, that's what is meant by media bias.
Maybe the files are in Hillary's closet at the Senate, and she has no idea how they got there?
The media is going to do all they can to destroy the lead the President has.
You know, if the AP were anymore transparent, you would not be able to read the print on the page.
My local TV station out of Seattle aired an item tonight about Bush's National Guard records. Is this all they have to bring up? Of course not a peep about Kerry's bogus medals. But then again, media bias is alive and well.
What credibility? They've been lying like this for years. Only now they get caught.
I canceled the local mullet wrapper a year ago because of their bias,and when they did one of their subscription drives,it felt really good to get another chance to tell them off.
My husband and I took this paper for almost twenty years,it's the only local one we have,but it got sold to new owners,got a new editor,and went down the tubes.
I don't know it stays in business,my whole area is conservative,and the local rag just keeps getting more and more biased. I wonder how they stya in business?
I was present at that rally, in the front row, about 10 feet from President Bush. There was no booing -- at least none that was audible to the President because I would have heard it too! I've checked with others positioned in other parts of the auditorium -- including some who were sitting with the press -- and nobody heard anybody boo.
There was stunned silence for a moment, followed by polite and respectful applause.
Not only has this AP jerk libeled the President, he has libeled the good people of Milwaukee. What's more, he embellished his account by writing that the President did nothing to sotp the booing (which didn't happen in the first place.) The pPresident held 15,000 cheering citizens in the palm of his hand. He got us to be quiet when he directed, and he got us to cheer when he wanted. He was in complete control of that adoring crowd.
In addition the APs correction threw in news about impending "surgery" -- the President never said anything like that. He merely said that Clinton had been hospitalized and asked for us to send our best wishes for a speedy recovery.
The thing that disturbs me the most is in the story it mentions Kerry's medals and and tries to link Bush to the SBVT ads, but gives no mention whatsoever about the controversy surrounding the fraudulent bronze star combat V, or the Navy's investigation into Kerry's awards.
Tom Hayes at AP thays@ap.org
And his boss at AP tcurley@ap.org
I'm confused. Isn't it true that Bush's National Guard file is incomplete? I thought there were some missing pay records, or some records on old film that they were having trouble reconstructing.
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