Your latest media debacle
by digby
If you happen to be watching TV right now, you are seeing one of the most embarrassing moments in CNN history. They confirmed that an arrest had been made in the Boston bombing and it’s well … not true. Pete Williams on NBC stuck to his guns when everyone else was recycling CNN and made what anyone would probably agree is the logical assumption: they had found some video that showed who they thought was the bomber but they are trying to identify him and put together the evidence. That’s it.
It may be that they know who this person is by now and they may be in the process of arresting him for all we know, but they were completely wrong in saying they knew who he was. Unless the guy is a well known person and they got a really, really good look at him, it stands to reason that this would take some time.
Poor John King. He went way out on a limb and looks very foolish. So does CNN’s “expert” former Bush national security advisor Fran Townsend who put it all on the line for sources who obviously burned her. Wolf Blitzer practically had an orgasm on live TV.
I actually feel bad about this. The world would be a better place with a well run 24 hour breaking news network like CNN used to be. This isn’t helpful.
Check out this storify to see just how this whole debacle unfolded on twitter. What a mess.
Courtesy TPM, here it is in all its glory: