I'll never forget the press conferences of Bill Belichick during the week of Spygate. He issued a statement and refused to comment on it, other than to say, "read the statement". He has been vilified since then for not being forthcoming, but the vilifiers have become fewer and fewer. Well, look at Roger Clemens. He has been forthcoming, he has denied vehemently the charges against him, he play a tape in which his accuser repeatedly asked "what do you want me to do" to which Clemens replied "I need people to tell the truth" (please note, saying anymore could be considered witness tampering). And yet, the press is saying because Clemens did not have McNamee fly down for the press conference (more witness tampering, offering a free flight), Clemens is still holding back. This is what Belichick was avoiding. The more Clemens feed, the more the the press wants. Belichick knew, you cannot feed the hypocritical press enough, therefore you must starve them.
And I said all that to say this, I wish the science channel would stick more to science and less to editorializing. They had a magnificent show "Pandemic:Bird Flu" showing how bird flu could mutate and spread, in a simulation by actors. And yet, at the end what did we have? A wasted, preachy rant "why didn't they tell us more?" Lady, I'll tell you why. Because there are hard truths in a hospital during a pandemic. Decisions are made about who gets what treatment, who is too sick to save, who is likely to get too sick to save, and who will survive with treatment. You know why the medical community will not say that? Because the press would seize on it, dwell on it, twist it and drive it into your skull, maximizing fear, uncertainty and doubt, playing up the dramatic, making sure you tune in. Hell, they will almost lie to make sure you'll tune in. You doubt me? Here are some examples:
The day of the Mitchell report on steroid use, a list of players was supposedly released by Bloomberg (they deny this!) but MSNBC decided to run with it. Now all the other news media can pick it up, saying "MSNBC reports that...." Except, the list was false. Apology on page Z5, sorry, Jason Veritek.
Hurricane Katrina evacuees were told to bring three days supply of food and water. When aid came 2 days later, the question were, why are you so late, we have no supplies? Excuse, but two is less than three, why weren't you prepared?
Iraq, the surge. The past 6 months of report went "FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!FAILURE!well okay its working, IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, OBAMA..... see, no more news of the surge.
Dan Rather and the letters about Bush written on a PC, years before the PC existed.
I can go on, but enough, I think you get the point. The press is too full of themselves. They will decide whether you are innocent or guilty, but not until the story has lost its luridness, or appeal. The Peter Kings of the world, pontificaters from on high, will not let go so long as ratings or accolades increase. I wish Roger Clemens had looked more carefully in the Bill Belichick method of handling the press, he could have saved a lot of ink, trees and bandwidth. Don't feed the beast, let it get hungry and move on. Maybe someday, we can starve it out at last.
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