What James Taranto has dubbed the Wild Goose-Step Chase appears to be winding down, as outlandish reports by Michael Miller in The Miami New Times of neo-Nazis “conducting heavily armed patrols in and around Sanford, Florida” were debunked by your humble correspondent over the weekend.
But not before numerous websites spread the story far and wide, leading to attempts to politicize the story by people like Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs:
You know all that rhetoric about “race war” that’s showing up at Breitbart.com and many other right wing sites these days? It’s not just rhetoric. There are some people in Sanford, Florida right now who are taking it very seriously indeed: Armed Neo-Nazis Now Patrolling Sanford, Say They Are ‘Prepared’ for Post-Trayvon Martin Violence.
Many major websites ran with the story without question as well.
Among major print newspapers, only The New York Post and The NY Daily News ran the story on their websites without challenge. The NY Post still has not updated its story, but The Daily News did update its report after I alerted the writer to the denial by Sanford Police.
But The Daily News went a step further, and completely replaced its first report with a second story using the same url as the first, but with very different approaches.
As these screenshots indicate, the first story pretty much repeated the Miami New Times report as true, while the second story reduced it to a future intention by neo-Nazis to patrol, noting the denial by Sanford Police.
I understand why, in good faith, The Daily News may have wanted to drop the prior article completely. Keeping the headline and story up with just an update keeps the story alive to a certain extent in search engines. But the headline could have reflected that there was an update, which would have ameliorated much of the problem.
I have a different problem with the substitution of stories by The Daily News.
Completely substituting one post for another, while using the original url for both, had the effect of washing out a key part of the story here: The irresponsible spread of racially charged rumors in an already racially tense situation by a well-known print and web publication.
I would have preferred a mea culpa together with a correction.
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Comments
Why were there no photos or videos of those black-clad armed Nazi patrols?
I considered asking that question at certain leftist sites, but I decided they were having so much fun digging their holes it would be rude to interrupt.
One of the pieces did have an “Armed NSM (National Socialist Movement) Members On Patrol” photo, but it was taken in… Arizona.
…where, I would have to assume, they were on the guard against… the type of people who’d look as much like Zimmerman’s imaginary son as Trayvon would Obama’s.
i understand his intention and frustration, but isn’t our host here getting just a wee bit full of himself and his ability to influence the news ?
To el polacko: Bill is only human. I’m glad he’s on our side.
I do think, though, that he is too tolerant of trolls. I’m ready to listen to a reasoned civil argument from my opponents, but this is an election year. The Left’s priority is to distract swing voters from its record, to distract conservatives from their game planning, and to frame the rules of engagement to its advantage.
Naw… we could tell if he was successful because he would attract a better class of mindless trolls.
A big part of the sorry history of this confluvium will be dedicated to the staring role played by the “press” (i.e., rabble-rousers).
This HAS to be to the good, as more and more Americans will realize they’ve been played, HATE it, and NEVER give credence to press and pols involved again.
If the narrative it does fit
You must not question it
Probably explains about 80% of the MSM coverage on this story.
Well, professor, you DID note that the Sanford PD denied reports of neo-nazis patrolling.
However, you did not establish whether neo-nazis are actually patrolling or not. You simply accepted a very compromised police department’s statement on the issue.
That doesn’t actually shed any light on whether neo-nazis are patrolling or not.
So I’m afraid you didn’t actually ‘debunk’ anything. You got a police statement, that’s all.
For such a small thing, you have certainly been patting yourself on the back a lot, though.
Hard to say one way or the other, is it?
Maybe you should personally do some patrolling in Sanford.
Let us know when you get back, with your undebunkable report-
Hard to say one way or the other? Yeah, you could say that, since there is so little information.
‘neo-nazis patrolling’ could be two guys who ‘patrolled’ a couple of blocks and then went home to drink beer and report to their leader, blogging away in Detroit, that they were conducting ‘heavily armed patrols’…and they get to feel important.
Point is, blindly believing authority figures doesn’t actually shed the light on much of anything.
“Blindly believing…”, huh. Depends on your “authority figures” dunnit, you stupid, Collectivist troll?
“Ah well. I can explain. There’s a double standard — but that’s okay! You see, NBC News is allowed to lie and get away with it because they’re good. Breitbart couldn’t even tell the truth without catching hell because he was bad. See the difference? It’s subtle I know — in fact, it’s so subtle you may have to be a big time literary theorist and legal scholar to understand it. So let’s turn for an explanation to big time literary theorist and legal scholar Stanley Fish.”
Read the whole thing. http://pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2012/04/09/the-big-double-standard/?singlepage=true
Actually Breitbart effed up enough and put out selectively edited crapola designed to smear and destroy, so he created his own credibility problem.
My point was simple…blindly believing either report on first glance is not journalism, when there is no independent verification or evidence either way.
And ‘pajamas media’? ha ha ha.
Sorry, Ragoo.
Attacking Breitbart? Ignorance is your bliss, http://is.gd/ounvd0
Ctl-Alt-Del
olfactory system is, picking up the scent of rotting raw fish.
ha … yeah, they reported it with no evidence. So it must be true unless there is absolute proof none were marching? And they were reported to be heavily armed, or even goose stepping. Yet not a single picture or police report.
What was debunked was the integrity of those that reported or picked up this story, without trying to verify the story. You mock Prof Jacobson for just getting a police report, yet none of these hot shot journalists breaking this hot story did that.
It seems even the last NY Times headline is wrong … “Neo-Nazis Pledge to descend .. ” Did they? Or did one guy say they might show up?
My point had little to do with whether the original report was true or not.
My point was that blindly believing what the Sanford PD says is no better.
Complexity…I know it’s hard for you guys.
Who are “you guys”.
An average journalist would try to verify an incendiary story like that. A statement from police would be a reasonable source. Then the reader can decide the veracity. That is “reporting”. I don’t have to “blindly believe” anything, except that the police were actually called, and that is what they said. You seem to have chosen to “blindly believe” that as well.
They could also have questioned the neo Nazi guy with more probing questions … who, when, where, how many … basic stuff. But they instead hyped a statement, if we are to blindly believe their quotes are accurate.
Sushi, your parody of a leftist troll was marginally believable but this comment blows it – no real person is stupid enough to claim that the Professor has done nothing more than rely on a police department denial.
I liked you better in your previous incarnation as “Hunter,” Ms Fish.
“You simply accepted a very compromised police department’s statement on the issue.”
Several things, you stupid troll…
1. Jacobson REPORTED what he had learned
2. THIS was MORE than anyone else bothered to do
3. “compromised” means WTF…??? HOW is an entire police department…headed currently by a black captain, I think, “compromised”? (You stupid, lying, Collectivist troll.)
4. Jacobson did not say, “No worries…all is swell in Sanford”.
5. When was the last time you looked under the hood of a moonbat Lie-0-Tron meme they packed into your crap-filled skull before simply republishing it in your trollish rants?
You just saved me the time in typing a response to Sushi. And much better said – quite colorful as well!
DocWahala – more and more convinced trolls like Sushi are so deranged, that if Obama were to suspend elections, she would still find a way of rationalizing it as a good thing, and would spend her every waking moment trying to paint anyone who disagreed as “evil”.
drudge… memory hole.
You no doubt have read, Romney and Netanyahu, being good friends from way back college days, Professor. Hopefully Romney will crush 44 and sooo, think we gonna’ push to have Rom, name YOU as A.G.
GOD FORBID THAT ROMNEY WINS anything, any time.
May Romney be exposed as what he is and what he has done.
May Prof. Jacobson’s good name never be associated with Romney nor the reign of Republican corruption currently pretending to be upright and conservative – including any Bushes..
Good Ol Chuckie J. sure is having a good time these days. Wonder if he ever regrets those long ago Old Days when he was celebrated as a hero of truth, justice, and the American Bicycle Way? Man, how the beastie turns out to be a total fraud.
Yep, the good old days when Chuckie’s blog, little green foosballs, won’t allow anyone to ridicule followers of the Religion of Peace but he did still, even then, allow a limited criticism of Christian views.
Wonder what’s been happening to the Fisker Awards? Yeah, especially if his old media pals have yet forgiven him for joining in the dump on Dan Rather’s little fake but not accurate piece back in ’04?
I happened to hear Hannity today with a caller telling him blacks are right to continue to be outraged about Zimmerman. One of his reasons was that most or all the crimes in the community Zimm. was patrolling had been committed by blacks, that Zimmerman had to know this so was predisposed. Hannity said that never came up on tapes, but the caller said that meant nothing. Hannity then said he knows most people aren’t racist but some are because there was a report of neo-Nazi’s being in Sanford this weekend. So Hannity is passing this lie around and saying it proves white racism against blacks. I don’t usually listen to Hannity because this is the kind of crap he comes up with.
Can you get a legit link or address for his defense fund? I’d like to donate.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/09/us/florida-teen-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Prof, please don’t link to Charles Johnson. That guy is scary unhinged.
Here is my contribution holding up the extraordinary standards of American journalism.
The nazis don’t much like Blacks Jews Slavs Gypsies Gays Disabled Communists – this is based on 1930-1945 Europe .
They are merely disdainful of hispanics (Spanish ) but these did provide great cover post WW2. throughout South America .
My take is that they are sitting up there in Illinois debating the value of George Zimmerman. On one hand he has that horrible Juden namen but on the other hand he is part Peruvian. The Nazi wunderdoktor Herr Mengeles received cover in Peru after fleeing Argentina. They also respectfully buried him .
Stalemate.
To Sushiann – the reply from the Standford Police carries legal standing unlike NY Daily.
So it has value.
Professor, the flare-lit tipoff for me was when the supposed “right-wing gun nut neo-Nazi” referred to “assault weapons” as easier to get in AZ.
That term, in my experience, is only used by lefty anti-gunners to refer to Scary Black Guns, and the rules for purchasing actual fully automatic weapons are Federal and thus the same everywhere.
The UN has decided to put their two cents into the Martin/Zimmerman case:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/fla-civil-rights-group-welcomes-un-official-s-call-reparations-trayvon-martin-case
The UN will only have credibility and the right to enter a moral debate when they begin to deal honestly with Islam and its practices – toward women, Jews and Christians.
When the UN serves notice to Islam – REFORM OR ELSE – and banishes all Islamic/Sharia countries from the UN, I’ll listen to their statements.
UNTIL THEY THE UN IS A HYPOCRITICAL USELESS ORGANIZATION.
UNTIL *THEN* THE UN IS A HYPOCRITICAL USELESS ORGANIZATION.
Actually, the UN has proven invaluable in introducing child rape/prostitution and disease into areas of greatest possible vulnerability.
Why we are still involved is a mystery nobody has explained to me.
The Daily News, like the NYT, writes with its primary audience in mind. That’s why you’ll find Mike Lupica, on the day of the Iowa caucuses writing in his column that Iowa is “Too white to matter”.
Never forget that New York, the city, is an environment where its perfectly alright to parade down the street with your male appendage inserted into your boyfriend’s rectum, but mandatory to spend your life in a closet if you vote Republican.
Liberal intolerance for anyone who thinks differently than they do is historic reality.
it’s always been a commie-pinko lying rag. Leftist tabloid nonsense.