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GamerDad And The Action News Team
Last week we reported on a travesty of journalism; A local newsteam decrying the Pictochat DS program for being dangerous to children. Well, it turns out that respected family gaming site GamerDad actually told them they were wrong before they even reported the story. From the article: "When contacted for the story, I talked for a good fifteen minutes about the possibility of this situation occurring and what might have to take place to facilitate it. I specifically explained that turning on the DS in a public place has never turned up a Pictochatter. Never. I've tried a bunch of times to see if anyone attempts to use it in public. I also said at least three or four times that Pictochat was not Internet enabled, even after I received a call-back asking if it were possible for this to happen at one of Philadelphia's 'Wi-Fi hotspots' which are also mentioned in the article."
It's possible she just didn't understand how the unit worked (yeah, she shouldn't have went ahead with the story), but I'm not so sure her mistake was intentional. I'd like to hear her side of the story.
My guess would be that she had conflicting information and went ahead with what the parents had told her.
Is someone misleading the public with false tales of terror, in a deliberate money-making scheme? Find out tonight at 11 on Action News!
Though sensationalized drama does.
In the past few years, it has been increasingly obvious that many of the big media sources are not very careful about hiring credible people. Look at Jayson Blaire at the NYT, for example. Why does it surprise anyone that media outlets like *BC just make stuff up? They complain about bloggers, but at least the average blogger not only has no national recognition, but has comments and trackbacks open so you can post a rebuttal that others can see and read. The NYT, ABC, etc. don't give any right of response when their stuff is pure bullshit. It'll appear as a small correction in a place that 99% of their viewers/readers won't notice so as to not call attention to a headline's inaccuracy.
Journalists do this muckraking to raise controversy, and stir up the pot. I had the same kinda thing talking to local reporters about wardriving -- "Ooh, hackers spamming everyone from open Wi-Fi spots!" You tell them one thing, and they'll figure out what makes their story sensationalized. Then you hear the story, and learn that they ignored what you told them, even if you tried hard to make your point clear.
I think the best thing to do is to talk to the reporters. It is up to them to quote you properly, and get the story straight.
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
They called gmaerdad and he explained in no nonsense terms that it was all bot impossible.
They then ignored his comments and published the story without them.
If he had to explain it to her many times then I guess it's not "no nosense" now is it?
,"I went even further and speculated that the child would almost certainly have to have prior contact with a person about where to meet in order to make this possible."
Even in the article he said
My thinking is that she heard "possible" and ran with it, but I don't know that, and you don't know that. Only she does.
I wonder why competing news stations don't publish stories about how competitors outright lie to the public when they put out garbage like this Pictochat article. I guess it would trigger the end of the world.