COM: Politics and Media Out Of Control

MEDIA
OUT OF
CONTROL

Politico

Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point 'scholarship' but never applied

This is where it all started. It was assumed that Ben Carson actually received a scholarship, but in reality he said he was only offered a scholarship.

USA Today

Carson caught in tempest over his claim of a West Point scholarship

The original headline was "Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point story, report says" Interesting that USA Today felt the need to change their own headline.

The Washington Post

Ben Carson defends his telling of an informal offer from West Point

Here it's explained that Ben Carson was offered a scholarship but didn't take it.

The Washington Post

Ben Carson’s ‘West Point’ story isn’t totally accurate. Here’s why that could be a problem.

Here the author states "Ben Carson's admission Friday to Politico that he had not been offered and accepted a full scholarship to West Point could be a major problem for a presidential candidate whose appeal is almost entirely built on his remarkable personal story."

The Daily Caller

Five Serious Questions About Politico’s Hit On Ben Carson’s West Point Story

The Daily Caller has earned itself space on my list of sources. Politico never made it.

So this is how politicians can bait the media with ambiguous statements, then turn around and attack the media, pointing at the media's sloppy false inferences,

Did this really happen? Was it intentional? There's no way to prove it, but the media is at fault for not doing its homework anyway.

Either way the damage is done to the candidate. The graphics popping up all over the Internet that are mocking the candidate, possibly for something he never did or said, won't go away anytime soon.

News outlets must answer not only for parroting the original story, but now changing their own headlines after the fact to cover up their laziness.

The schadenfreude and groupthink of the media needs to be checked.