Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

[AAFO_WSagar]

I do completely understand the difficulty that writers face being accurate.. it's just plain a pain in the A$$ to have to fact check yourself when you write something. Move that writing to "live" nightly network news and I suppose the difficulty level ramps up a bit..

That being said, (somewhat tongue in cheek as there is no excuse for not fact checking) I just googled "F-18" and nowhere in several pages of results to the query did I see the term "F-18 Raptor"

I rarely watch network news but just happened to be watching ABC nightly news and they showed a really cool picture of an F-18 streaking by low over the golden gate bridge during fleet week.. really cool photo... I just can't stop asking myself if I could qualify for a job at the networks? After all, all you gotta do is pull the AP teletype, and write your copy for the talent to read?? "Talent" ID'd the Blue, US Navy, F-18 as a "raptor".... And I'm on the west coast where they have three hours to correct fu's like this one...

Anyway..

Just ranting a bit on a Monday evening..

[FuryFan]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

It's becoming clear to me that these days "close enough" is the new paradigm.

Kevin

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

It's becoming clear to me that these days "close enough" is the new paradigm.

Kevin

Not sure that is it..

Or, at least, it's not that simple. Really, I'm making a lot out of a really simple mistake, but it just flashed me back to the days' when Walter Cronkite delivered my news.. He had not only been commentating on the world's news for year's, he damn well had been there!

I'm dating myself..

[Matt58]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

Who's Walter Cronkite???









j/k

[Reever]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

To me, this is the question of integrity. When I see mistakes like this I wonder about the stories that I don't have much knowledge and I look at them through a filter of credibility. I worked as a replacement staff writer for a small news paper, and it was a real eye opener that the accuracy of "facts" wasn't a priority.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

Who's Walter Cronkite???









j/k

I know you are joking but it really struck me earlier that we, or at least, I, don't have anyone out there in the world who I could possibly trust to tell me the truth.. Walter Cronkite told the truth!

Kind of makes one want to buy a sail boat and just fade away....

[omalley1537]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

Along the same lines...I took my son to see the D-Day tribute at KPAE, with the three P-51's doing flyovers around W Wash. While listening to the ATC app on my phone to know when they were taking off, I heard a certain Seattle area news helicopter request permission to hover at a given location to get footage of "Those P-58's, or whatever they are." I about had a heart attack. How in the heck do you participate in aviation (helicopter) without knowing what a P-51 is, particularly when the event is paying tribute to D-Day?

Irritating.

[Paul_E_Richards]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

"And that the way its is. The 14th of September, 2014. Good Night From CBS News"

[FlyKidChris]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

To me, this is the question of integrity. When I see mistakes like this I wonder about the stories that I don't have much knowledge and I look at them through a filter of credibility. I worked as a replacement staff writer for a small news paper, and it was a real eye opener that the accuracy of "facts" wasn't a priority.

I've said this same thing many a time, too. It's the primary reason that I try to gather news from as many sources as possible. That is, I believe a "big picture" view is more likely to be accurate.

Wayne, was Cronkite accurate? Like you, I certainly liked the man, but was he being fed accurate information?

In any case, time and time again, when I have personal knowledge (not belief, but actual direct personal knowledge) of an event, the news media gets something wrong far more often than correct. So - as Reever said - yes, it does color my perception of all of the news.

[440_Magnum]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

This may be a little over-philosophical, but I think the huge inaccuracies we see in journalism today (not just of content, but even of grammar, style, and punctuation) stems from how young people choose careers these days. All too often, its about "how can I make money?" instead of "what do I do well, that an also make me a good living." People like Walter Cronkite went into journalism because they had an interest in fact-gathering, liked to accumulate knowledge, and were genuinely INTERESTED in what was going on. Cronkite in particular was fascinated with science and technology, and while not an expert he went out and learned what he needed to learn to report the space program accurately. I imagine he still kept thinking about what he'd reported at the end of the day, it wasn't just "a job."

I see the same thing in engineering. People used to go into the field because they liked making things, figuring things out, and developing new fundamental science into useful tools and machines. Today- kids who've never picked up a screwdriver enter college and go into engineering. They learn the math and physics OK (sometimes...) but you can't really "classroom learn" the drive to create or the practical side of engineering.

[Reever]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

Along the lines of the "F-18 RAPTOR", when we started the strikes against ISSSSSSSLSLS? the New York Times had a front page photo of a EA-6B Prowler coming aboard ship. The photo caption said "An F-18 returns from a mission".

[GRNDP51]

Re: Off Topic Rant: ABC World News F-18 "Raptor"

Along the lines of the "F-18 RAPTOR", when we started the strikes against ISSSSSSSLSLS? the New York Times had a front page photo of a EA-6B Prowler coming aboard ship. The photo caption said "An F-18 returns from a mission".

I did not think we used Prowlers anymore? We do?? Where's the prowler demo team then!!