No Due Diligence Network Headline News..Israel smuggles in prostitutes tied to camels..Female soldiers kill Palestinians as video game..Israel to execute children of suspected terrorist
Read Time:2 Minute, 38 Second
It’s my suspicion that some American journalism schools have pioneered a new technique called No Due Diligence. Unlike the old practice of investigating and fact-checking a story before printing it, NDD involves merely printing any story which appeals to one’s readership or philosophy.
For example, a right to work group might come across a story at www.unions_suck. com explaining that most union members are Marxist terrorists and give it banner headlines.
An environmental group might find something juicy at www.anyonewhodrinksfromplastic_bottles_isanazi. com.
This technique is not to be used irresponsibly, however. Clearly NDD is good journalism when hearsay evidence, rumors or even a bad dream following a night on the town involve undesirable elements such as Bad Arabs, Bad Persians or any Muslim who has yet to renounce their religion.
If I may clarify, Bad Arabs are those whose nations do not line up with US foreign policy, unless they are working to disrupt their government. Same thing applies to Persians – if perchance they welcome an Israeli or US military attack on their nation then they are the good ones. We can see this with the story of the imminent stoning of the Azeri woman in Iran, in spite of the fact that stoning is now illegal in Iran and the story originated with her lawyer. Or the story coming out about the 18-year old Persian man falsely accused of homosexuality due to be hung. I haven’t investigated this one, but with NDD there’s no need to.
So let’s try this another way – let’s try applying NDD to Israel and see how it works out:
Israelis smuggle in prostitutes tied to camels-keep them drugged and abused.
Is there any truth at all to this? Is it anything more than an isolated incident of crime and an unfortunate victim with no ties to government officials and lacking popular support? Who knows? Who cares? I don’t. I use NDD and it works for me.
Or how about this one:
Israeli female soldiers use video game technology to kill innocent Palestinians
This article may be true. Drone attacks are regularly used by the IDF and while being Palestinian and near a fence is not in itself a crime, there are those who would prefer to not take chances when it involves a possible Bad Arab. There may be much more to this story than the article depicts but with NDD there’s simply no need to investigate.
Or:
Israel to hang children of suspected terrorist from tree.
Ok I actually did look into this one because it’s in Haaretz which is a reputable news source. Israel does not have capital punishment and the comment about hanging children from a tree was from the chief rabbi in the Galilee city of Safed, and it was his anger following a terrorist attack which killed eight Israeli students.
So in this case I should report ALL the facts, right ? WRONG! With NDD facts aren’t necessary. Simply let the character of the individual guide you.
Happy reporting kids!
Oh, the female terrorist in the thumbnail ? Iranian police officer at target practice. I waived NDD in this instance.
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HooRay~! Well said. Well done! Good stuff Oso.
As an old newspaper man let me add, before the internet, editors, editorial committees and above all, the publisher, were the deciders on content. The ordinary journalist knew what he had to do get his/her story in a prominent place. If there was a change at the top, it didn’t take them long to see if the wind had changed direction. Of course with a big election season on the horizon, the US media is rubbing it’s hands waiting for the windfall they are all going to get this Fall. Don’t anybody tell me that doesn’t influence content.
Oso, you have the ability and smarts to see both sides of an issue and make up your own mind about a subject, not just follow what you are told.
That is a rare talent that I wish was like a contagious flu that would spread across this country. Sorely lacking today.
Great post!
My gripe is with the main stream media, if they were responsible the others would either follow their lead or appear to be someone with an axe to grind. And I think $ and political influence and that law I believe Reagan passed to allow a consolidated media is to blame.
I have heard Stimpson say it’s not the individual journalists, which I believe to be true. And I don’t think it’s censorship, I think it’s influence from the top which lets writers know what will and won’t be published.
NDD, sounds a lot like ADD. Maybe it’s a new clinical diagnosis.
Your journalism schools have clearly been infiltrated by British tabloid journalists!
Mainstream media has been doing a piss poor job in the fact checking department for some time, which is why infotainment is so much easier (and sells ads better- and we know it is all about the money, right?)
I, or a close friend or family member have been interviewed countless times by journalists- and despite the presence of tape recorders and/ or cameras, I have NEVER had them repeat the information given them with 100% accuracy.
One would hope that major stories would receive better checking, but so much is hearsay and aggregation. Best to take everything with a grain of salt.