What is it we’ve been told endlessly before reporting sensational
news? Why, that we need to make sure we get the facts straight, before reporting them.
David
Lipson and a team of ABC journos have been reporting from the US. So
far, I’m satisfied – as I’m sure the wider Australian public is –
they’ve done a good job, under difficult circumstances. ABC journos have
a well-earned reputation for that.
Having said that, Lipson’s
latest op-ed/analysis (“Donald Trump’s Current Strategy isn’t About Winning in
Court. It’s about Disrupting the Process in the Hope of Winning the US
Election by Default”, November 20) contained this bit:
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| (source) |
Lipson reports South Dakota nurse Jodi Doering’s tweet and subsequent CNN interview, where she alleges an unspecified number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients refused to believe the reality of their disease and even of their impending deaths and instead were angry at the health professionals attending them.
The message outlets like CNN –
that originally contacted Doering –
and HuffPost and the Daily Beast –
that further reported on the CNN inteview –
wanted to send across, and that Lipson believed and transmitted to the Australian public, is that this is not an isolated incident.
It is a good story: dramatic, full of human interest and wider implications.
 |
| (source) |
The problem is that it is not clear Doering’s allegations were anything more than an outburst – product of natural frustration and stress and exhaustion, from a person who only wanted to get things of her chest – and more likely than not an isolated incident.
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Guys, we’re all human. And humans make mistakes. It’s not just those people across the road.
Let’s keep that in mind before we pass judgement on those we disagree with.
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