I have come to the conclusion that the only true journalists left in America are the sports writers. Today’s Boston Herald is a wonderful example (and I am pleasantly surprised to be complimenting the conservative Herald).
A few months ago (right about the time that my Patriots lost to the Giants), the Boston Herald published an article reagarding the allegations that members of the Patiot’s organization had taped the St. Louis Rams walkthrough a few years back. The problem is, it didn’t happen. The Herald admitted today that they did not actually see the tape, nor in any other way verified the veracity of the accusation. Today, they printed this:
On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots video staff taped the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed.
Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams’ walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification.
The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots owners, players, employees and fans for our error.
The Boston Herald admitted that it ran a story without verifying the information. The Herald admitted that they made a mistake. The Herald apologized.
Will we ever hear a similar apology from the Washington Post for it’s blind acceptance of the Bush administration’s warmongering talking points? Will the New York Times ever apologize for it’s cheerleading and jingoism during the runup to the Iraq invasion? Will any newspaper, any American newspaper, admit that, “though we thought the reports of WMDs in Iraq were correct, we have since learned that we were mislead and the report was incorrect?”
I ain’t holdin my breath.
Olberman is a former sports journalist. Maybe that explains why he is willing to question the press releases and propaganda coming from our government. Maybe that explains why he’s willing to call ‘bullshit’ when appropriate. Maybe that explains why he is willing to admit when he was wrong.
Posted in Authoritarianism, Iraq, Sports, hypocrisy, journalism, newspaper
