Posted on 08/30/2005 5:58:32 AM PDT by StoneGiant
New Democrat Talking Points
Note: here's the inside joke regarding "Kennings"...
Source
The Apology
http://www.dailyegyptian.com/fall05/index.html
It was a heart-rending story--a blonde waif, her mother dead, entrusted to the care of a family friend while her father fought with the 101st Airborne in Iraq. The youngster was intelligent, friendly and engaging, and developed close bonds with many of the newsroom staff. Then a week ago came the news that her father had been killed in Iraq.
Every war casualty leaves a trail of pain, but the story of a 10-year-old girl losing her only parent to the war is particularly poignant, and the Chicago Tribune showed interest.
In the course of checking out the details, a troubling problem appeared: The story wasn't true. What began as a nightmarish possibility became impossible to deny. There was no record with the Department of Defense of the death.
The father who was called Dan Kennings was not killed in Iraq. We checked with central command in Baghdad. There was no Dan Kennings in the 101st Airborne. No Dan Kennings in the entire Army.
We checked with Cathy Gramling, media relations officer at Fort Campbell, Ky., who in turn checked with the Army Human Resources Command.
"We cannot find a record of a Dan Kennings on active duty or having been killed in Iraq," Gramling said.
She directed us to a Web site maintained by the military, listing all the casualties from Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the attack on the Pentagon. No Dan Kennings.
We had been duped.
Well, when you want to believe a story, and you're salivating so much you forget to do your basic homework, you're likely to end up pulling a Dan Rather.
A Red Dupe wakes up.
Stalin is still laughing.
That's how I saw it. They so desperately wanted it to be real that they deliberately avoided fact checking.
What is the name of the SIU student who perpetuated this hoax? I've read your link but the individual does not seem to be specifically identified.
She spelled cried and people wrong but spelled fiancé right, and no one noticed?
The lefties got caught again and are pleading ignorance...that won't work, when it comes to thier ideas ignorance is a given, insanity might work better, because the left has been driven mad in their hatred for the President and will do anything to destroy him...they're like "Homicide Word Bombers".
Aww, c'mon now. The story was "fake, but accurate". </sarcasm>
Wow. Not only did this hoax fool a bunch of aspiring journalists for two years, but during this time frame the scandals involving Jayson Blair and RatherGate occured. Even then, no one seems to have said, "hey, maybe we should start checking our stories a little closer."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.