U.S. Reviewing the Beltway Sniper Case retrospectively, the media (collectively) has egg on its face, and for once it's not their fault. As the "sniper" Task Force gave less and less hard information, the media published stories based on information from "usually reliable sources" within the law enforcement community. Almost all of them got "burned" at least once with stories that later proved to be false. There should be intensive behind-the-scenes reviews by news organizations of sources for law enforcement information and their trustworthiness for the future.
The "transmission belts" that can be relied on to promote the government's "spin" were not exempted, e.g. The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. Even the venerable New York Times (the lead transmission belt) got caught with a story that was demonstrably false.
The misinformation (or disinformation) revolves around the key "facts' that led to the identification of John Allen Muhammad (aka John Williams, Wayne Weeks, and Wayne Weekley) and the 17-year old John Lee Malvo (whose real name apparently is Lee Boyd Malvo).
The first misinformation was fed to Fox Cable News through reporter Rita Cosby (no relation to the entertainer). Cosby and Fox Cable News were fast acquiring a reputation for straight reporting (ignoring government spin). Fox is reported to be the White House's least favorite news organization. It may be for just that reason that Fox and Cosby were "given" the opportunity to break the big story which went something like this.
The "transmission belts" that can be relied on to promote the government's "spin" were not exempted, e.g. The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. Even the venerable New York Times (the lead transmission belt) got caught with a story that was demonstrably false.
The misinformation (or disinformation) revolves around the key "facts' that led to the identification of John Allen Muhammad (aka John Williams, Wayne Weeks, and Wayne Weekley) and the 17-year old John Lee Malvo (whose real name apparently is Lee Boyd Malvo).
The first misinformation was fed to Fox Cable News through reporter Rita Cosby (no relation to the entertainer). Cosby and Fox Cable News were fast acquiring a reputation for straight reporting (ignoring government spin). Fox is reported to be the White House's least favorite news organization. It may be for just that reason that Fox and Cosby were "given" the opportunity to break the big story which went something like this.