Yesterday, a story was posted here about a woman in Seattle who reportedly miscarried days after being pepper-sprayed and kicked by police. The story was an Editor's Pick and cross-referenced on the front page of Salon. Like a chant echoed by a crowd, the headline was borne aloft through social media. Commenters piled on, outraged.
If it is true, the story is horrific, and the outrage is deserved. But - the story might not be true.
I followed the links in the post to an article in one of our local papers, the Stranger. Almost immediately, the Stranger was having trouble corroborating the protester's story. Today, the Seattle Times reports the same problems trying to verify her account.
There are plenty of things to be outraged and horrified about. Can we save our collective energy for things that have passed at least the first level of fact-checking?
Otherwise we risk devolving further into a nation of Fox-watchers, mistaking memes for truth, and blindly repeated stories for investigative reporting. As writers, editors, and readers, we need to be more careful. The truth will out, so long as we have the patience and tenacity to find it.
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Cary Tennis
angus mccflop
Jody Becker
Heidi Herron
Dr. Spudman44
Julie Delio
Salon.com
Comments
I appreciate this post. At this point, while doubts have been raised, I'm not going to condemn the young woman until all the facts are in. If, in fact, she lied, I'll do a mea culpa. If a young woman who grew up in the foster care system is scared to reveal her records, well, that'll come out too. But I agree with you that we need to be careful.
Boy, the outrage was enormous. One person went so far as to suggest that people like me ought to be shunned for daring to suggest alternative possibilities.
Like you, Donna, I feel if this actually happened...it is a very sad commentary. But cops are humans...and we all err from time to time. Castigating the police forces and the town officials the way some are makes little sense...even if some cops and some officials are out of line.
Good post here. We DO have to get along. We cannot so easily divide into "US" ande "THEM."
Frank - if the story is true, then I unequivocally support holding the police accountable. It just remains to be seen how true the story is.
We all have to guard against rushing to judgement, especially for stories that key into our own biases or fears.
Thank you both for stopping by -
and that it is now revealed should be appreciated and certainly not condoned in any way whatever. It is part and parcel of the general government suppression of objection of the general public to all sorts of government misbehavior.
" Can we save our collective energy for things that have passed at least the first level of fact-checking?"
Rational research about the facts mentioned here are necessary,and in terms of the OWS movement it is compulsery to keep focussed on the aim.
R