I have always been a HUGE fan personally (even though I have never met her) and professionally of writer Michele Catalano. Years ago when I started blogging this talented powerhouse of a writer invited me to cross post on the now defunct blog Command Post even though she disagreed with my viewpoint on many issues. The story surfaced yesterday about how she was visited by a tactical unit to visit the home of her and her husband because she Googled a search for a pressure cooker. Here’s the original story and some of the blog posts that it sparked as listed on memeorandum.
The story seemed more complicated than it appeared at first glance, so I held off doing a story on TMV because I wanted to read as many accounts of this as possible and not just do a cut and paste.
Now it turns out there is may be some important nuance to this story that made some of the assumptions in news accounts of her account inaccurate and misleading.
GO HERE for details and you can see how these tidbits seemingly present a more complete picture, which alters the story.
Presumably the websites that touted the original version of this story will sort out the facts because their original stories were alarming, indeed. Meanwhile, I am and always will remain a huge fan of Michele Catalano.
Policymic is correct: “The media’s suggestion and perpetuation of the idea that there is some larger conspiracy is irresponsible.” In the 24/7 media age getting it right does often become victim to getting it quickly (not necessarily first) — which is not surprising since most blog posts cut and paste and do not re-report or get new reporting for blog posts.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.