Wednesday, December 17, 2014

72 Million More Reasons To Doubt The Mainstream Press

72 Million More Reasons To Doubt The Mainstream Press - Investors.com:
"Media Malfeasance:
In less than two weeks, bombshell stories of a vicious gang rape and a millionaire teen investor were exposed as frauds that never would have made it into print but for gross negligence and liberal bias.
Over the weekend, Jessica Pressler, a "star reporter" at New York magazine, told the story of an underage teen who'd already made $72 million trading stocks on his lunch break.
It was part of a series on why people should love the city.
The story spread like wildfire, showing up in the New York Post, Marketwatch, the New York Daily News, Fox News and others.
And why not?
New York magazine occupies one of the top rungs on the media elite ladder.
Surely it would never publish a piece that hadn't been thoroughly fact-checked and edited.
Turns out the $72 million-kid story had gone through those steps.
The magazine even sent a fact-checker to the 17-year-old's home to view a bank statement.
Plus, Pressler's tale fit comfortably with how liberals view Wall Street — as little more than a lottery where someone can "score" millions by "playing" the market.
So why bother being skeptical of the kid's tale?
But the story was, in fact, a complete hoax. 
The teen in question, Mohammed Islam, apparently was a member of an investing club at his high school, but he had never put a dime of actual money into the market.
.....Meanwhile, the University of Virginia gang rape story continues to unravel, exposing new depths of laziness, recklessness and bias at Rolling Stone.
It's now clear that there were so many holes in "Jackie's" rape claims that anyone who'd done the minimum of unbiased reporting would have dismissed her as not credible and moved on.
But Jackie's story supported the current liberal belief that sexual assaults are rampant on college campuses.
So why doubt her?
In New York magazine's defense, it did quickly and fully own up to its mistake.
"We were duped," it told readers.
Now if only the mainstream press could be as upfront about its biased, agenda-driven reporting, which repeatedly misleads and misinforms the public."

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