The Value Of An Apology, At Least From A Republican's Perspective!!

On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 18:08:09 +1100, "DRS"
wrote:

"tony cooper" wrote in message


[...]

Chris's comment was that Fox News reported that there were black
looters and white vigilantes keeping the peace. I flat-out don't
believe this. I think Chris is making up an example out of whole
cloth.

[...]

A Google search on "fox vigilantes looters 'new orleans'" gets nearly 4,500
hits. The general thrust is that Fox more than any other station pushed the
line that in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the mainly black
population of New Orleans descended into an orgy of looting and violence
that justified a strong police/military response (for example,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168269,00.html). It followed this up
with a "documentary" series on post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans called
K-ville that glamourised the New Orleans police as some kind of thin blue
line in an outlaw city when in reality it is notorious for its corruption,
racism and inefficiency (for example,
http://www.counterpunch.org/flaherty09152007.html).

If anything, the role of white vigilantes killing black men was underplayed
by the media, especially by Fox. The full and disturbing account was
compiled by crime journalist A.C. Thompson of the Nation. His full article
and and interview about how it came to be can be found at
http://www.alternet.org/story/114286...rina_flooding/.

The major points I found in only a few minutes search were that:

1. Fox pushed the demonisation of the black population of New Orleans by
exaggerating the extent of the violence and looting;
2. The media generally underplayed the actions of white vigilantes and the
refusal of the NOPD to investigate these crimes;
3. The implication is that the media, with Fox leading the way, played upon
racial stereotypes that distorted the reporting of the facts.

Now, I don't want to get buried in the details of this particular argument,
but I do want to suggest some of you might want to think about
short-circuiting these endless he-said/she-said subthreads by doing some
homework, especially on things that are easily checked. Who knows, people
might end up learning something.

I would like to suggest that you might want to think about reading the
posts I've made and addressing what I've said and not what you seem to
think I've said.

I've made no comments about Fox's handing of the Katrina aftermath
conditions. I haven't maintained that Fox did or did not demonize the
black population. I haven't maintained that any reporting agency
presented biased or unbiased stories. I haven't maintained that Fox
did or did not play on racial stereotyping. I haven't commented on
any of that.

What I objected to was Chris's comment "I recall during the floods in
New Orleans there was a comment that there were gangs of black
criminals looting and white vigilantes trying to keep the peace and
get supplies for people." He used this as a example of words used on
Fox programming to portray a "different scene".

I don't believe he heard that. I believe that he made it up.

I do not believe that any journalist on any station or with any news
medium would use "vigilante" as a positive comparison to the negative
"looters".

Making claims that he can't support by providing a cite is bad, but
making up quotes to support a claim is worse.





--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

"tony cooper" wrote in message

On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 18:08:09 +1100, "DRS"
wrote:

[...]

Now, I don't want to get buried in the details of this particular
argument, but I do want to suggest some of you might want to think
about short-circuiting these endless he-said/she-said subthreads by
doing some homework, especially on things that are easily checked.
Who knows, people might end up learning something.

I would like to suggest that you might want to think about reading the
posts I've made and addressing what I've said and not what you seem to
think I've said.

I've made no comments about Fox's handing of the Katrina aftermath
conditions. I haven't maintained that Fox did or did not demonize the
black population. I haven't maintained that any reporting agency
presented biased or unbiased stories. I haven't maintained that Fox
did or did not play on racial stereotyping. I haven't commented on
any of that.

True.

What I objected to was Chris's comment "I recall during the floods in
New Orleans there was a comment that there were gangs of black
criminals looting and white vigilantes trying to keep the peace and
get supplies for people." He used this as a example of words used on
Fox programming to portray a "different scene".

True.

I don't believe he heard that. I believe that he made it up.

This is where people (I'm not picking on you particularly) slip into the
endless he said/she said subthreads that go nowhere. What I showed was a
context of natural disaster, media demonisation of the black population and
largely under-reported white vigilantiism in which it is easy for memory to
make errors or conflate elements of different stories. The way out of these
endlessly repetitive threads that establish nothing is to do some homework.

I do not believe that any journalist on any station or with any news
medium would use "vigilante" as a positive comparison to the negative
"looters".

Had you checked the first link I gave you'd have found anecdotal evidence in
the first paragraph to support your claim:

"Thousands of National Guardsmen and women armed with food, water and
weapons streamed into the hurricane-ravaged New Orleans on Friday to bring
relief to the suffering and take back the streets from the looters and armed
vigilantes."

Making claims that he can't support by providing a cite is bad, but
making up quotes to support a claim is worse.

Maybe he made it up, maybe he made an error, maybe it's true and it's on
YouTube. I don't know. But for heaven's sake, let's all please move on.
Somewhere. Anywhere.