The local Fox 29 News station in the Philadelphia area took its own stab at the baffling Bucks County UFO sightings with a brief, three minute segment. As expected, they continued the journalistic tradition of social discrimination, stereotyping, and the perpetuation of misinformation through insufficient investigation (more like no investigation) when it comes to the taboo subject of UFOs.
Take a gander:
Clips like the above mentioned should be shown in every classroom in America as examples of how not to cover stories as a journalist or news anchor. Simply disgraceful, but all too common.
The kooky, sci-fi atmosphere that the media just loves to establish at the onset of any UFO-related news segment is frankly unprofessional and an insult to everyones intelligence. It's an old, tired routine by now. Corny jokes and condescending coverage with little effort at all made to investigate.
Lost in the midst of the silly intro and outro, as well as a few snide comments mixed in here and there throughout the entire segment, the only actual evidence -- photographs and a vague video -- were shown only briefly and hardly addressed, while the bulk of the segment was spent interviewing a run-of-the-mill eye-witness along with random men and women off the street.
Of course the inevitable skeptics perspective was thrown in there for good measure. "But some tinfoil wearing cynics and skeptics dismiss the claims as more kooky than spooky." Meanwhile they show a man with a tinfoil hat holding up a sign that says "Take Me To Your LEADER" -- How is this relevant? Have these "skeptics" investigated the case? Have they identified the culprit? I understand the importance of presenting both sides, but this is just lazy reporting and a slap in the face to any witnesses that reported a sighting.
In what way is this informing the viewers as to the details of the sighting, the status of the investigation and the probable causes for the recurring events?
Instead of filling us in on any uncovered details on the breaking story, news anchor Dray Clark decided to end the segment by relating the Bucks County UFO flap of 2009 to the bogus, tabloid-esque report (that was an obvious joke from the start) published late last year about a lone "male" grey alien smiling at women at JC Penny while getting some shopping done.
For most thinking people, there is a clear distinction between bogus tabloid stories and legitimate UFO reports. If journalists can't differentiate between the two, they aren't doing their job.
At least one local resident voiced a sensible, intelligent response to an intentionally pointed, overly used and entirely insignificant question. In response to a question presumably concerning her belief on the origin of the reported phenomenon, Vicky Azar responded by saying, "I am not qualified to make a judgement call, but I try to keep an open mind."
If only more people were like Vicky. I have a problem when people believe something without evidence just as much as I have a problem when people dismiss claims without evidence. If you don't know the facts, don't express an opinion. Thank you, Vicky.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
"What the hell is in the water in Bucks County?"
That was the question posed by Dom Giordano of The Big Talker 1210 Philadelphia on Friday night while covering the recent rash of UFO sightings in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. As expected, the segment was chock full of ridicule and laughter. Dom voiced his dissent with authority -- despite knowing virtually nothing of the subject -- talking down to UFO witnesses and "believers" while asking childish questions of his virtual audience.
"Why do the aliens always have to be smarter than us?" (he seemed to want to boast his intellectual superiority over hypothetical alien beings able to engineer craft capable of interstellar travel. No, he was serious.)
Giordano, as many talking heads before him, argued the practical impossibility that the U.S. government could withhold information on something as significant as ET visitation. "Doesn't anyone realize how hard that would be to do?" No kidding, Dom. The government hasn't exactly done a stellar job at keeping peoples mouths shut. The problem is, nobody is listening.
The real question is, when will the mainstream media get their heads out of their asses? Honestly. How often must we be treated to a rehashing of misconceptions and discriminatory stereotypes before journalists actually decide to do their damn jobs? Whatever happened to "just the facts"?
Journalists these days are too cowardly, it seems, to fairly address taboo subjects like UFOs. Such subjects are apparently exceptions to the universal journalistic rules of fairness and balance.
Dom Giordano, and the rest of the media intelligentsia, need to grow a pair.
"Why do the aliens always have to be smarter than us?" (he seemed to want to boast his intellectual superiority over hypothetical alien beings able to engineer craft capable of interstellar travel. No, he was serious.)
Giordano, as many talking heads before him, argued the practical impossibility that the U.S. government could withhold information on something as significant as ET visitation. "Doesn't anyone realize how hard that would be to do?" No kidding, Dom. The government hasn't exactly done a stellar job at keeping peoples mouths shut. The problem is, nobody is listening.
The real question is, when will the mainstream media get their heads out of their asses? Honestly. How often must we be treated to a rehashing of misconceptions and discriminatory stereotypes before journalists actually decide to do their damn jobs? Whatever happened to "just the facts"?
Journalists these days are too cowardly, it seems, to fairly address taboo subjects like UFOs. Such subjects are apparently exceptions to the universal journalistic rules of fairness and balance.
Dom Giordano, and the rest of the media intelligentsia, need to grow a pair.
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