69 million page views

bad journalism - no authoritative sources

Reader comment on item: [Defending Lars Hedegaard:] "A Stew of Anti-Muslim Bile and Conspiracy-Laden Forecasts"
in response to reader comment: The Higgins are many. The not so new journalistic laziness and depravity!

Submitted by myth (Germany), Mar 8, 2013 at 21:10

Steven, the Higgins article demonstrates bad journalism. I see two sources of authority regarding the facts.

  1. Hedegaard himself is the sole known witness. Why didn't Higgins try a telephone interview with Hedegaard? The NYT is a paper of reputation, Higgins could have tried with success.
  2. The police conducts the investigation. Higgins desires to highlight the Muslim reaction to the event. The police can answer two questions: In what way did Muslim organizations or individuals support the investigation? Did this lead to any results?

Higgins sets the two authoritative sources aside. Never mind about objective sources when those sources are not authoritative in the first place. The order is facts before opinion. Well, for Higgins it's not. On the other hand, newspapers sell opinions. It is news agencies that sell facts.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (32) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1not surprising [34 words]yuval BrandstetterMar 17, 2013 09:53204414
7Not surprised [94 words]PrashantMar 10, 2013 03:39204174
Failed Logic [59 words]Amin RiazMar 14, 2013 19:12204174
6Clueless as usual [122 words]dhimmi no moreMar 16, 2013 16:45204174
1shabby [37 words]mythMar 8, 2013 22:01204137
1The Higgins are many. The not so new journalistic laziness and depravity! [91 words]Steven LMar 8, 2013 13:42204122
bad journalism - no authoritative sources [130 words]mythMar 8, 2013 21:10204122
6So much for our newspaper of record [300 words]dhimmi no moreMar 8, 2013 07:12204115
5cooking an opinion from opinions, misrepresentation [252 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
mythMar 8, 2013 05:42204113
Denials [42 words]Amin RiazMar 9, 2013 20:56204113
4Was al-Tabari a graduate of Harvard in Islamic studies? Islamic logic at its best [133 words]dhimmi no moreMar 14, 2013 07:55204113
Father of Absurdity [179 words]Amin RiazMar 14, 2013 18:24204113
4Islamic logic at its best [130 words]dhimmi no moreMar 15, 2013 06:57204113
Running Scared, are we dear? [231 words]Amin RiazMar 16, 2013 01:19204113
6Tablighee twists and turns [205 words]dhimmi no moreMar 17, 2013 07:54204113
Gotcha! AGAIN! [209 words]Amin RiazMar 17, 2013 18:22204113
3al-Tabari and Harvard [388 words]dhimmi no moreMar 19, 2013 06:51204113
1One sided defence of free speech [29 words]James ZuccelliMar 8, 2013 05:09204112
One should look at the things in a broader perspective [336 words]Amit SrivastavaMar 8, 2013 03:24204110
Response To Amit Srivastava, March 8, 2013 [15 words]Dick CarlsonMar 30, 2013 15:22204110
2Lar Hedagaard is a truth teller, radical islam hates the truth ! [25 words]Phil GreendMar 7, 2013 23:35204105
1A full page ad [34 words]Judith ChimesMar 7, 2013 23:04204104
2Kudos, and another example [122 words]saraMar 7, 2013 19:05204100
2Failing to speak up when one had the chance has its detrimental consequences [171 words]NuritGMar 7, 2013 17:36204097
Where is journalism going? [36 words]Peter HerzMar 7, 2013 16:51204096
That does not solve the problem, Peter [30 words]stanley bMar 7, 2013 19:00204096
No, it doesn't solve it--YET [87 words]Peter HerzMar 13, 2013 21:23204096
I envy your optimism [56 words]stanley bMar 14, 2013 17:42204096
2Hedegaard is no Terry Jones [183 words]Edward ClineMar 7, 2013 13:10204095
1Kudos to Mr. Edward Cline [60 words]Frugal FrigateMar 7, 2013 20:37204095
2Higgins? [46 words]Arnud FergesonMar 7, 2013 13:03204094
5Common Tactics [165 words]AlexandrosMar 7, 2013 10:18204090

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)