Thursday, April 14, 2005
Shoddy journalism
Columbia Journalism Review (March/April 2005) reported two accounts from TV stations where reporters openly bought large amounts of fertilizer ammonium nitrate (an ingredient in bomb). The reporter from KMOV-TV in St. Louis easily bought the product from two suppliers and then was refused by another. The reporter then left the truck, which had held the ammonium nitrate in St. Louis, where it was not observed by police. When shown the videotape, only then did police "step up their vigilance." A fertilizer plant is using the tape to train employees.
The reporter from KCTV in Kansas City was only able to by the fertilizer at a seventh stop. The fertilizer was the common kind used on lawns and was mixed with phosphorus and potash. To make a bomb, it would have required picking out the ammonium nitrate, an almost impossible task. The reporter stated, "It is clear tonight -- very clear -- that security remains a concern across the country." And Columbia Journalism Review added that it is also clear that "shoddy journalism remains a concern across the country."
I agree that both examples are "shoddy journalism." What do they prove? Only what we all know. In an open society, terrorists, criminals or even journalists can commit crime if they choose to. We are safe because as individuals we choose to support moral values and our way of life, where freedom and personal security are upheld. These silly antics only heighten our feelings of insecurity and make journalists look foolish.
The reporter from KCTV in Kansas City was only able to by the fertilizer at a seventh stop. The fertilizer was the common kind used on lawns and was mixed with phosphorus and potash. To make a bomb, it would have required picking out the ammonium nitrate, an almost impossible task. The reporter stated, "It is clear tonight -- very clear -- that security remains a concern across the country." And Columbia Journalism Review added that it is also clear that "shoddy journalism remains a concern across the country."
I agree that both examples are "shoddy journalism." What do they prove? Only what we all know. In an open society, terrorists, criminals or even journalists can commit crime if they choose to. We are safe because as individuals we choose to support moral values and our way of life, where freedom and personal security are upheld. These silly antics only heighten our feelings of insecurity and make journalists look foolish.
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