Sunday, March 15, 2015

Tabloid Journalism

The Daily Mail has claimed that eBay is sellng ancient coins from Apamea stolen by ISIS.  The author, one Jack Crone, does not seem to much care that similar coins have been on the legitimate market for generations or even that Apamea apparently is in the hands of the Assad Regime, not ISIS.  Meanwhile, far more credible sources have questioned whether any material that may have been looted (as opposed to destroyed) by the iconolclasts of ISIS has come here in any quantity.
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3 comments:

  1. John HMarch 15, 2015 at 10:30 AM

    Well, it's the Daily Mail after all.
    Why let the truth get in the way of a good story?

    Says more about Jack than the story. Maybe he's a work experience 'yoof' - so give the youngster a break, eh? I'm sure a hard-bitten news hack wouldn't have penned such copy.

    Regards

    John Howland
    England

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wayne G. SaylesMarch 17, 2015 at 3:23 PM

    John;

    This story, which has proliferated in the media, is simply one in a long line of outrageous claims that are totally lacking in fact, truth or common sense. If the facts related to me are true, and I believe they are, this story is provably FALSE and thereby defamatory as well as despicable. Those responsible should (and may) be held accountable. Accusing an American citizen of aiding in the funding of terrorism is tantamount to an accusation of Treason and the accusation itself is as serious as the purported crime. The problem may be that media reporters, hard pressed for copy every day, tend to accept the pronouncements of virtually any academic as the "word" of an expert source without really knowing anything about the issue at hand. Any media blame is certainly shared by academics who ideologically believe that the end justifies the means — even if the means are unethical. A sad story, really, as it destroys the myth of academic ethics. Society needs educators, not ideological pontificators. The media reporters in this case obviously did not feret this story from the front lines. Where could one think the story came from? Too bad the reporters didn't do a little fact checking. I'm especially disappointed in Fox News for picking up this story as a news feed without digging more deeply into the real story, which is frankly much larger than this outrageous claim. If FOX is really the "most trusted news" they will follow up with a genuine exposé of the relentless and unconscionable attack on private collecting that is the motivation for this type of yellow journalism.

    ReplyDelete
  3. John HMarch 21, 2015 at 4:59 AM

    Hello Wayne:

    We are singing from the same hymn sheet!

    'Academic ethics'- is rarer than rocking-horse dung. If only some journos would not only check their facts but also examine more closely the 'past form' of their informants.

    Some of these ethics-free 'academics' are not above using sloppy hacks to further private and personal agendas.

    Most worryingly, perhaps, is that these 'academics', so-called, are let loose to interpret what they always label 'important' sites.

    How can society trust their integrity and veracity? Who's to say they are NOT concocting evidence for their own private ends, particularly continued employment on-site?

    There has to be greater oversight and greater control of archaeology and of those making huge salaries from what is a heritage circus.

    Regards

    John Howland
    England

    ReplyDelete

Henceforth, comments will only be posted from those who provide a full name, country of residence and basis for interest, i.e., collector, archaeologist, academic, etc. or their Blogger profile provides such information.