Rathergate and the current fauxtography scandals (including Katie’s miracle diet) are only the tip of the iceberg that has managed to break through and give a hint of the utter corruption and incompetence of reporters editors and producers worldwide. The fraudulent stories being spoon fed to Reuters in the Middle East and published without even minimal critical examination are the most upfront examples of how reporters operate today, repeating what favored sources dictate to them, so long as it forwards their leftist, particularly anti-American and anti-Israeli, agendas.
And we come to your second topic, the kidnapped Fox journalists. Your listed topic is “are risks greater than ever?” You mean are the risks to reporters greater. You should be asking instead about the risks to the honest communication of the truth. Steve Centanni has been emphasizing how sympathetic he is to the Palestinian cause and how their message deserves to be heard. By definition he is not a reporter but an advocate for one side, the murderous terrorist's side, and should never be allowed to cover that region again. Your counterparts at CNN admitted that they covered up Sadam’s crimes that they knew about so that they could keep their bureau open in Baghdad. Why? What value did it serve except as a propaganda outlet for a mass murderer? And what did Fox or the other news agencies agree to do or to not report on this time?
Your job is to report on events, who, what, when, where, why and how. If you can’t do that because of fear then you should say so and leave the area. If you won’t do that and instead substitute politically biased diatribes and outright fakery, then your “profession” has already died.
I think this question of Centanni and Wiig may be the tipping point in the discussion of the failures of the DBM. The main stories right now should be about all the lies and outright fraud that they have been pushing, particularly in the last 15 years, praising Clinton's faux Presidency, covering up his administrations crimes, inventing false accusations against Bush, such as the TANG story or the Florida recount debacle. And the pace and outlandish nature of the lies has continued to accelerate. The Wilson/Plame treason conspiracy is perhaps the least of it. The active propaganda campaign of false stories and refusing to cover real stories from Iraq is clearly giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war. The straightforward way they have worked as the PR arm of Hizbollah and Hamas is astounding and exposes just how stupid they think their audience is, or how desperate and insane they have become.
The DBM has some 'splainin to do.
Great letter.
That NewZealander Wiig appeared on CNN International & BBC and actually defending their kidnappers & blaming others. Shocking & shameful.