7 FEB 06: TRUST COMPANY?
We thank a probing blog reader for bringing an absolutely puzzling item to our attention:
Richard, Did you hear about this? Looks like some CNN staffers are reading the Ledger-Enquirer, and causing Wolf Blitzer erroneously to announce a renewed push to change the state flag....
Thomas
The e-mail included a link to a political column on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution web site. It reported Monday on a mistake Wolf Blitzer uttered during a CNN newscast last week. Puzzle #1: Why is the Atlanta newspaper doing this - and not investigators from Fox News Channel?
Wolf Blitzer declared the Georgia Senate had just approved "a new flag resembling the banner of the Confederacy." Puzzle #2: How did CNN get this 2006 scoop, when no other news media in Georgia had it? After all, this network relies on Atlanta TV stations to cover protests outside its own building....
(I worked to work at CNN Center, so I know this well. When a summer storm gashed a hole in the Georgia Dome years ago, I saw it while walking in from the parking deck and mentioned it in a newsroom. The supervisors didn't seem to believe me until an Atlanta station showed it on the 12:00 noon news.)
One hour later, Wolf Blitzer corrected that report about the Georgia flag and said the state Senate had taken no such vote. That probably brought a big sigh of relief at GPB - since "Lawmakers" tries to focus on the most trivial of things during a session....
"When we screw up, we're going to apologize," Wolf Blitzer told CNN viewers while making the correction. Blitzer hosts "The Situation Room" - and this was one really embarrassing situation.
The Atlanta political columnists apparently weren't satisfied with an apology. They wanted to know the source of the state flag story - and it turned out to be the "Looking Back" feature on the editorial page of the Ledger-Enquirer, with news from 1956! Maybe "Boomer 95.3 FM" should sponsor this, and make it clear.
That's where the political item ends - but the puzzles go on farther for me:
+ Puzzle #3: If CNN really is "the most trusted name in news," why can't its staff members be trusted to read newspapers properly?
+ Puzzle #4: How did the Atlanta newspapers beat the Ledger-Enquirer to this story? What does the Columbus newspaper's newsroom watch during the day - the "old school" comedies on TV-66?
+ Puzzle #5: If it took four days for anyone to report on this CNN foul-up, what does it say about this network's viewership? A Google News search found not even conservative blogs called Wolf Blitzer down on this.
+ Puzzle #6: If you don't see this item in the Ledger-Enquirer today, what does it say about the Atlanta newspaper's readership across Georgia?
+ Puzzle #7: Atlanta political columnists watch CNN. CNN staffers read the Ledger-Enquirer. The Ledger-Enquirer has obtained story ideas from this blog. So does make me a "media power broker?"
BLOG UPDATE: Always striving to be evenhanded, we went to the KFC on Macon Road Monday. But the assistant manager on duty told us she knew nothing of Sunday's visit by Columbus police officers, responding to an incorrect order. But of course, the complaining customer told me workers didn't know about Coretta Scott King....
To be fair: it's possible the KFC on Macon Road had different staff members working Sunday and Monday. It's also possible that they're too embarrassed by police intervening for a customer to talk about it -- even with each other.
I couldn't help noticing a sign on the wall at this KFC, apparently posted to encourage sales. It has a section devoted to "Customer Maniacs," complete with space for four pictures. Only one picture was on the sign - and it didn't look like it was taken by a surveillance camera.
After all of this, let's see if the Monday news had any sanity to it....
+ The evening news revealed the Southgate Apartments near the Fort Benning main gate have been condemned, and will be torn down in March. This is exactly what S.O.A. Watch has been waiting for - a bigger assembly area.
(Southgate resident Toyota Barnes says her apartment has standing water from flooding next door, but the management won't do anything about it. Here's my question, though -- who named this woman Toyota? Does she have a sister named A-Lexus? Maybe a brother named Nissan?)
+ The Lifetime cable channel presented "For One Night," a TV-movie inspired by Taylor County High School's historic integrated prom a few years ago. Based on the short clip WRBL showed, I'm not sure it's accurate - since I didn't see Bill O'Reilly condemning any white students on TV.
+ The last tickets for next month's James Taylor concert at the RiverCenter were sold in less than an hour. If you don't have one - well, I'd stop short of suggesting you pray for "Fire and Rain."
+ WWE wrestlers appeared in Atlanta, on the day between cards in Albany and Columbus. We haven't heard if any grapplers stopped in Columbus to eat during the trip. Some of them seem more interested in scrambling brains than scrambled dogs.
+ Instant Message to OfficeMax: Are you kidding me? You're closing the Albany store, and keeping the Columbus store open?! Are the Albany store and staff even emptier and less attentive?
Today's entry was inspired by a blog reader's tip. To offer a story tip, make a PayPal donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post a reply.
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