The Fifth Estate
A reader who follows the goings-on in Seattle sends us a tip on a story that will interest many blog readers. Have you heard the news of the curmudgeonly neighborhood activist guy who was killed by an assailant after blocking off the street in order to water flowers in the median? Well, when one of the Seattle papers posted this piece about the suspect, including a link to the charging papers in the case, take a look at what happened next. If you scroll down and click on "Soundoff," you'll see how P-I readers dug out the MySpace pages and criminal records of the "witnesses" in the incident, along with leaving scathing critiques of the original news accounts of the tragedy.
Our reader concludes: "It is a new digital world that newspapers and other media can no longer control!" We couldn't agree more.
| Posted at 12:51 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
maybe indymedia.org has had the right idea all along, warts and all.
but investigative journalism is not dead, even at the Oregonian--though to be honest, i'm not sure the next generation of "readers" will even notice if it (journalism) goes off in a corner and dies.
myspace. what a little shrine to narcissism and infantilism *that* has become. using it as a reliable source for much of anything seems...pathetic.
Posted by ecohuman.com | July 16, 2008 9:42 AM
Reassess ecohuman.
myspace gave us photos of the subjects, their opinions and attitudes of the world and what would happen if someone messed with them.
Locally it was denied that a local gang affiliate existed.
I goggled the city and name of the gang. Myspace gave me pictures of local members, pictures of get togethers, underage drinking and flashing gang signs. Links of friends and their friends.
Law enforcement can / should sit at a keyboard, being careful not to spill coffee or get doughnut crumbs in the works, and in air conditioned comfort get nice leads.
But for this to work you are right, it is:
"...a little shrine to narcissism and infantilism ..."
Posted by dman | July 16, 2008 3:18 PM
dman:
have you ever heard the phrase "wannabe"?
If myspace says that I am Antonio Bandera's other wife, are you going to ask that he be charged with bigamy?
On the internet, every man is tall, fit with a good head of hair.
And every woman is a size 2.
myspace isn't exactly an unimpeachable source of info. wannabe gangsters aren't the only underage kids drinking and documenting it on myspace. Trust. Parents aren't checking their kids myspaces and they're in the same house.
Posted by Ms. Contrarian | July 16, 2008 4:18 PM
Ms. Contrarian, to clear up a few perceptions: The "wannabes" went out and shot up the town and a person was wounded. This was besides all the "wannabe" graffiti posted around town. There were also "wannabe" related assaults with other "wannabes". The "wannabes" are now all convicted of various crimes and can now be the real thing as a prison gang member!
I know first hand how to set up a "fantasy profile" complete with pictures and story (well I provided the basics and let someone with time run with it). This was long before Myspace was born.
I agree! Not only are parents unaware of what is posted in myspace, I have personally seen an under age girl flash me on live cam as grandma sat behind her unawares. This lovely young thing was personally responsible for putting two men in the penitentiary before the DA realized what was really going on. (Before you get excited, I consult with law enforcement on computer tech and do forensic photography)
My point was that people post things unaware that future jobs or criminal behavior can make it come back and haunt them.
"Known associates" can be key to investigations, and a friends list, particularly with frequent exchange of messages - now originating from cell phones and posted online - makes an easy case for who they associate with.
As far as the original topic, I predict a mention in the national press as it unfolds.
Posted by dman | July 16, 2008 9:28 PM