Calgay media fails again.

[rtirdnewsguy]

A union-based lobby group called Friends of Medicare has once again turned Calgary news outlets into fools - and its all because no one bothered to find out more about what turned into another false allegtion. The lobby group claimed a mouse was chewing on the face of a patient at a Lethbridge seniors facility. Virtually every Calgay news outlet went with the story WITHOUT CHECKING IT OUT. The company running the facility now has clear evidence that marks on the seniors face came fom a viral infection - NOT A MOUSE. The company does say mice were found in the room and of course that is unacceptable - but the mice did NOT attack the patient. In the many years I spent in Calgary radio news - I was ALWAYS suspicious of the claims made by this group and in most cases those claims were either completely false or were hidden behind half-truths. What happened to the foundational rules of news reporting - double-checking and getting both sides before a story is used ?

[former tv guy]

So we're supposed to take the company's (which could be facing a huge lawsuit if it admitted rodents were nibbling on patients) word for it?

[Neumann Sennheiser]

Reminded me of this TV moment from Malcom in the Middle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ9S7_DO-c0

Seriously though, the Aaron Sorkin HBO series The Newsroom has a story line this season that demonstrates that even a top-notch news service, even triple- corroberating their sources, can still get badly burned.
I doubt the players involved in this case were that thorough.

[Tape Splicer]

Perhaps we all might take some wisdom from Ben Franklin, who said: “Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see.”

This statement was also written into the lyrics of Marvin Gaye's song "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" ..... (Chorus) "People say believe half of what you see, Son, and none of what you hear."

[Jack Bennest]

I fail to see the relevance of whether Calgary reporters are gay or not


As we say in Facebook land - POKE

[slowhand]

So we're supposed to take the company's (which could be facing a huge lawsuit if it admitted rodents were nibbling on patients) word for it?

Only the mouse knows for sure and it's not talking.

[hagopian]

The mouse is Union and is working to rule.