Friday, August 26, 2005

This Week's
Backside
Of The Bell Curve

Winner!


That Piss Poor Excuse
For A News Channel


FOX News



Typical Fox News viewer


Are you ready for this? Fox News "Terror Analyst," John Loftus, announced that there was a terrorist living in Orange County, California.

Loftus reported the street address where the terrorist lives, and FOX News provided the satellite photos of the neighborhood, the street, and the house.

One problem, though. The alleged terrorist hasn't lived in the house for over 3 years.

And the people who live in that house are scared to death.

In what Fox News officials concede was a mistake, John Loftus, a former U.S. prosecutor, gave out the address Aug. 7, saying it was the home of a Middle Eastern man, Iyad K. Hilal, who was the leader of a terrorist group with ties to those responsible for the July 7 bombings in London.

Hilal, whom Loftus identified by name during the broadcast, moved out of the house about three years ago. But the consequences were immediate for the Voricks.

Satellite photos of the house and directions to the residence were posted online. The Voricks told police, who arranged for the content to be taken down. Someone even removed the street sign where the Voricks live to provide some protection.
LINK

Mistake?

The Voricks said they had made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Fox News and Loftus by telephone and e-mail. They want a public apology and correction.

Both have issued apologies — Fox in a one-line statement to the Los Angeles Times and Loftus in an e-mail to the family — after being contacted by the newspaper. The Voricks say they have yet to see or hear a correction.

"John Loftus has been reprimanded for his careless error, and we sincerely apologize to the family," said Fox spokeswoman Irena Brigante.

Loftus also apologized and told The Times last week that "mistakes happen."

"I'm terribly sorry about that. I had no idea. That was the best information we had at the time," he said.


Hm. Where have I heard that "That was the best information we had at the time" crap excuse?

Oh, yeah. From the Bush administration.

I hope the Vorick family hires a hell of a legal team and takes on FOX and John Loftus.

Hell, I'd even tune in to CNN or MSNBC for the play-by-play coverage of the trial.

You know, when random FOX viewers spray paint the word "Terrist" on your house, that you're gonna have to move.

FOX & Loftus should, at a minimum, foot the bill, damn it.

Truly heavy sigh.



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1 Comments:

Blogger Ol Cranky said...

What I don't understand (I've learned to accept the fact that Faux News doesn't waste time vetting their stories) is why he felt the need to state provide such detailed identifying information. If he had that sort of information about a terrorist living here, he should have turned it over to the authorities, let them handle it and then given O'Lielly the exclusive interview.

5:46 PM  

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