“I’m A Terrorist?” Press Itself Causes Doubt.

A year ago we were listening to reporters tell us that the Superdome was hell-on-earth, that gangs were raping and murdering babies…based on nothing more factual than an escape of hot air out of someone’s inflamed rantings.

Now, has some video that I’m not sure we should pay any attention to:

From KTVU in San Francisco, here’s a little bit of information that somehow failed to make it into any of the media reports on yesterday’s hit and run attacks in San Francisco.

Watch as reporter Rob Roth says a witness heard the suspect refer to himself as a “terrorist,” then without taking a breath tells us this was not an act of terrorism.

It’s a quick clip. When I watched it I became less worried about whether or not the San Francisco perp was a “terrorist” (the official story is that he is “mentally ill.” I could suggest that anyone who wants to kill strangers, either by SUV or Anthrax is mentally ill, but what’s the point?”)

(UPDATE: Ace links to video that seems to confirm the perp calling himself “a terrorist,” although that is quickly pooh-poohed: “this is many things but not an act of terrorism…). Okay, honey.

No, what bothered me as I watched the clip is that in just a scant 5 years, the broadcast media has moved from the outstanding work they did on 9/11, to being completely unreliable because they are so anxious to sputting anything, anything at all, into their microphones and at their cameras.

24-hour news programming has created an insatiable beast, always looking for “more story” and all-too-quick to relay unvetted, unconfirmed information – which has led to some horrific and emotionally draining mistakes on their part.

It’s easy to make mistakes when a story is breaking, though, and so a little slack may be cut. But the press is seems to be throwing away credibility with both hands, as fast as they can. They run off a cliff after John Mark Karr, when most of us were heavily doubting the guy’s guilt and sanity the night the story “broke.” Caught being sloppy, lazy and incurious about the war between Isreal and Hezbollah, they blame Israel for their remarkably poor coverage

And ummm…the NY Times seems to have mis-spoken again. Or something. See the update to that piece.

Without further comment, a compendium of journalistic ineptitude and puddle-stepping for your entertainment, edification and hard drives:

America’s MainstreamMedia: A Perfect Guide to Doing Things Right, by Larry Leonard (yes, it’s sarcasm).
FX May Soon Be Short for Faux by Glenn Reynolds
Journalism’s Shaky Future by Mark Day
Dr. Uzi Landau Blames the Media, Calls For Inquiry by Ezra HaLevi
Media, not Federal, Incompetence by Roger Aronoff
Bush’s Incurious Critics.
Reuters Jumps the Shark
Verdict: NY Times blew the story.
CNN’s Robertson Now Admits: Hezbollah ‘Had Control’ of His Anti-Israel Piece