Quote:
Originally Posted by Makarov
I don't understand this rule. Who made it? Where is it from? Why aren't the three eyewitness accounts of its existence sufficient? How has the Srar or Gawker mislead any reader about the source of their information?
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Fair point. It's not really a rule, but if it were it was probably the same guy in taped-up glasses who decided journalists must spell out the numbers 1 through 9 in accordance with CP Style.
It's more of a believability-to-severity of accusation issue. I don't think anyone mislead anybody. Three eyewitness accounts are way more than enough for say, a house fire (i.e. "Boy, that fire was big," said neighbour Sergei Makarov standing over the ruins of Alex Burrows' house while Calgary Flames fans stand behind giving him a standing ovation.). There's a burnt down house, someone saw it, the fire dept verified it. Yeah, it happened.
For the Ford story, it's still pretty weak for The Star (and in another really annoying and one-of-those-things distinctions in journalism, I don't link Gawker in the hard-journalism side of things so I think they can say whatever they want to say).
Two eyewitness accounts on a video watched on a tiny cell phone screen. I can't remember but they watched it once or twice? Weak. There's no burnt down house. We're getting closer with his team quitting/fired. He's not in rehab. There's still no video. There's still nothing that has surfaced.
I love a good story in journalism. And a great story (bad news or good news) would be the mayor of freaking Toronto doing crack-cocaine. That's a pretty out-there accusation and claim. So the more out-there you are, the stronger your proof should be. It's not a rule, much like there's no rule stopping The Star from printing a story that says, "Alexander Burrows stops diving and biting hockey players. Video evidence exists and is in the possession of Ryan Kesler. Our reporters saw the video. We swear. Click here to read more."
All I'm saying and what I think others are saying is that the truth and the (low) level of reporting are two different things here.