This Stephanie Tubbs-Jones matter is the latest

TheDebbieDee

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:42 PM
Original message

This Stephanie Tubbs-Jones matter is the latest

of several examples that prove that the American mainstream media is totally inept and incompetent.

They have reduced themselves to being mere repeaters of gossip. And they are now even lower than the National Enquirer, because at least the Enquirer tells us the truth, even if we don't like it (the Edwards' affair).

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jobycom

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:45 PM
Response to Original message

1. It's nothing new. From Mark Twain to James Brady to Walter Payton

The media follows sources, and sources get it wrong.

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gateley

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:46 PM
Response to Original message

2. What's going on?

I read she died from a brain aneurism -- what is the media doing that elicits this comment from you? (Or do I even want to know?)

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MiniMe

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:47 PM
Response to Reply #2

4. That is what they reported, but apparently she hasn't passed away

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gateley

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:52 PM
Response to Reply #4

11. God! That's horrible! nt

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TheDebbieDee

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:16 PM
Response to Reply #2

26. Congr. Tubbs-Jones is not dead, not when I posted originally.

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Canuckistanian

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:47 PM
Response to Original message

3. The Madrid plane crash is another example

First report I saw, it was 40 people that perished. Then I saw 20. Then back up to 40.

Now, it's 149.

I can understand the confusion around a plane wreck when even authorities aren't even sure how bad the situation is.

But you DON'T start reporting numbers until a THOROUGH investigation is done and an official confirms those numbers.

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EFerrari

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:48 PM
Response to Reply #3

6. Or you use caveats. That's why we have more than 25 words in this language. n/t

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Canuckistanian

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:54 PM
Response to Reply #6

12. Exactly

What's wrong with saying, "We're still waiting for official confirmation of casualties. We'll bring you the news as soon as we have it"?

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endthewar

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #12

20. It's because of the media wars

Everybody is trying to scoop everybody else. This is most apparent when every news organization claims that they have an exclusive interview with someone that is doing interviews with every major network.

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2KS2KHonda

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:09 PM
Response to Reply #20

22. Looks like that phenomenon isn't unique to the media...same thing here at DU

:shrug:

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endthewar

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:15 PM
Response to Reply #22

24. I disagree

Nobody is trying to make a profit here trying to get the news out fast. I think people here are just trying to keep everybody else as informed as possible.

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2KS2KHonda

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:43 PM
Response to Reply #24

36. No, the motivation isn't profit, it's the "look at me I was first" syndrome.

Plenty of posts citing various links with totally different "news" with the strong implication of "this is right."
Blech.

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nadinbrzezinski

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:25 PM
Response to Reply #3

30. Actually... having worked in EMS I can see that one

why ... when I got to play POI, I watched my Ps and Qs and we never released anything official without plenty of caveats early on

Trust me, in a major MCI you have NO FUCKING CLUE what is going early on... you really DON'T

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EFerrari

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:47 PM
Response to Original message

5. I don't mind when they get something wrong honestly.

It's when they keep repeating obvious bs that I mind. Which is most of the time.

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WCGreen

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:48 PM
Response to Original message

7. PD Says she is gone....

Edited on Wed Aug-20-08 01:50 PM by WCGreen

http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/08/stephanie_tubbs_jones_has_died.html

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stillcool

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:52 PM
Response to Reply #7

10. but that article..

also says she is unconscious...

The mood of supporters around noon was somber. Cleveland Councilman Roosevelt Coats was seen sobbing outside the hospital. He said that Tubbs Jones was unconscious and that her friends and relatives were preparing for the worst.

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WCGreen

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:57 PM
Response to Reply #10

14. It changed....

I guess the source that said she had passed was incorrect.

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Blue Diadem

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:57 PM
Response to Reply #7

16. There was a news conference with the Dr. saying she's still alive

and has minimal brain function.

Seems a few news outlets have embarassed themselves.

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WCGreen

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #16

17. The good thing about the Internet is...

They can whipe out their mistake...

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Blue Diadem

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:10 PM
Response to Reply #17

23. Yeah it makes it easy for them. CNN sure had to do some fast talk on TV though.

I read somewhere in a comments section that one of the online papers had jumped the gun and put in her obituary earlier this morning. Within a short time they removed it.

I wonder when they're going to learn that fast news is not always accurate news.

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2KS2KHonda

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:44 PM
Response to Reply #17

38. After it's been repeated by 50 million people.

Marvelous.

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Tangerine LaBamba

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:51 PM
Response to Original message

8. Triangulation

In journalism, it refers to the practice - usually required - that any news be verified by two independent (of each other) sources. It would appear that today's "journalists" (pause for loud, extended laughter) are unfamiliar with the concept, preferring, instead, to be the first to report something, its veracity not being particularly significant.

What a bunch of losers. No wonder they're afraid of Obama - they can never keep up to him - they're too stupid even to know how to ask him any intelligent questions.

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Cleita

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:55 PM
Response to Reply #8

13. There is a big problem with this and Karl Rove types count on it.

Especially in the case of smearing a public person, when wrong information gets out and spreads too rapidly, when the corrections and retractions are made, it's too late to undo the damage caused to the reputations of those persons.

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TahitiNut

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:38 PM
Response to Reply #8

35. Not only do they jump the gun on what has (supposedly) occurred ...

... they're obsessed with 'reporting' conjecture and supposition regarding FUTURE events that have not (yet) happened and (some might contend) probably won't happen.

It's not just the pretension of 'journalism' but it's the infection of punditry rising to Prophecy ... and even the attempt to wield a power of Self-fulfilling Prophecy. In this I see corruption run rampant. It's the intentional "Heisenberg Effect" where the observer doesn't only have an impact on that being observed but where the observer is hijacking a public trust and assuming the power role as the Creator of events. Gods and God-emperors ... a plague on humanity forever.

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Tangerine LaBamba

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:43 PM
Response to Reply #35

37. Yes, indeed

I am still befuddled when I see people like Andrea Mitchell and Gene Robinson (and I really like the guy) appearing on news talk shows. They're the reporters, for God's sake, and not the principals! I am old enough to remember people like Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, and it's hard to imagine any of those fine gentlemen ever appearing on some kind of talk show to trumpet their "expertise" on the political/social front.

The media has, in fact, become the message, and we are all the poorer for it.

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AlinPA

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:52 PM
Response to Original message

9. And I suppose Fox "News" is making jokes about her condition or celebrating.

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endthewar

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:17 PM
Response to Reply #9

27. FOX News is rooting for riots in Denver just like Limbaugh

So I'm sure that both Limbaugh and FOX News are saddened that she is hospitalized (just like us, but for different reasons).

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Arnold Judas Rimmer

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Wed Aug-20-08 01:57 PM
Response to Original message

15. Considering the initial reports said that she was "for all purposes dead" when they brought her in

I would say it's a matter of technicality, unfortunately. If they took her off of life support, there might be enough brain function remaining to keep her breathing, which would mean she's still technically alive, but would not have any chance of recovery.

Very sad, but I don't see anything more hopeful coming out of this, from what's been reported so far.

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Kurt_and_Hunter

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:01 PM
Response to Reply #15

19. Yes, we have two definitions of death

Nobody is taken off life support so quickly without a diagnosis of profound and irreparable brain death.

(If the life supports reports are false, so be it, but they were quite specific.)

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ellacott

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:07 PM
Response to Reply #19

21. If you have a living will they might cease any life saving measures

It's possible that life support could be removed in situations like this. Normally they will do a couple of EEGs that would document no brain function.

Some one may have reported that she ws brain dead and that's where the confusion occurred.

I do agree that they should have waited to confirm the news before reporting it.

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Sheets of Easter

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:01 PM
Response to Original message

18. It's absolutely embarrassing.

The local media websites here already had their retrospectives and memoriams up & running within minutes, all over a false report. Ghouls...

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City Lights

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:16 PM
Response to Original message

25. There is nothing "mainstream" about the corporate media!

They're a danger to the future of America, IMHO.

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Arnold Judas Rimmer

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:20 PM
Response to Original message

28. Some clarification apparently

The AP radio hourly newsbreak had a soundbite from a doctor who used the words "very limited brain function".

I hate to make the comparison, but essentially this is like Terri Schiavo. The most basic part of her brain is keeping the lungs and the heart going, but not much else.

In biological terms, that's life. But by any other definition, she's gone.

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bdamomma

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:21 PM
Response to Original message

29. terrible misinformation about her condition.

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TwilightGardener

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:25 PM
Response to Original message

31. I wonder if they're preparing for organ donation, and that accounts for the confusion?

Edited on Wed Aug-20-08 02:26 PM by wienerdoggie

Just a thought, but they will keep someone technically alive, though considered brain-dead (very much a challenge, believe me--all organ function goes haywire as the brain ceases to function) until matches can be made and the recovery procedure performed. If so, this could be somewhat drawn out and confusing. I don't understand why they would report that she was removed from life support otherwise, and get it wrong--that's the only thing I can think of.

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goodhue

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:25 PM
Response to Original message

32. The Plain Dealer screwed up

The rest just followed its lead. It seems being taken off life support was misconstrued as death.

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TwilightGardener

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:27 PM
Response to Reply #32

33. Now I understand--she continues to breathe even after being extubated.

That makes sense now.

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TahitiNut

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Wed Aug-20-08 02:28 PM
Response to Original message

34. "Kill the APNewsAlert saying U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones has died."

Interesting use of jargon. :eyes:

APNewsAlert

41 minutes ago

EAST CLEVELAND (AP) — Kill the APNewsAlert saying U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones has died. A doctor says she is in critical condition.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijDA5bgxiHlTvS_r-SSjskS1Tq1wD92M6DOG1

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