(no subject)

[taerowyn]

I don't even know where to begin discussing the continuing evidence of FOX's stupidity in that they broadcasted the address of a California home as being that of a terrorist...as opposed to the five-member suburban family that actually lives there.

For the last 2 1/2 weeks, the lives of the couple and their three children have been plunged into an unsettling routine of drivers shouting profanities, stopping to photograph their house and — most recently — spray-painting a slogan on their property.

Their house, a suburban fixer-upper the Voricks bought three years ago, was wrongly identified in a cable news broadcast as the home of a terrorist.

"I'm scared to go to work and leave my kids home. I call them every 30 minutes to make sure they're OK," Randy Vorick said.

"I keep telling myself this can't be happening to me. This can't be happening to my family. But it is. I want our lives to be normal again," he said.

In what Fox News officials concede was a mistake, John Loftus, a former U.S. prosecutor, gave out the address Aug. 7, saying it was the home of a Middle Eastern man, Iyad K. Hilal, who was the leader of a terrorist group with ties to those responsible for the July 7 bombings in London.

Hilal, whom Loftus identified by name during the broadcast, moved out of the house about three years ago. But the consequences were immediate for the Voricks.

OK...first of all...why broadcast the address? Even if you were right and Hilal did live there, I'm pretty sure innocent until proven guilty still applies here. All you would have managed to do was send a bunch of idiots to harrass the guy clueing him into the fact that he'd been identified. Which, would you look at that, totally undermines your excuse of doing it "to help local police." Ummm no....helping local police would have been calling them, saying "I have ____ info that links this guy to London and the best I know is you can find him here," not broadcasting it over the air where any idiot with a TV can hear you and act.

Now let's get to the fact that you GOT THE INFORMATION WRONG! Now, instead of sending the idiots (who apparently can't even spell terrorist) after somebody who you have evidence showing they might be guilty...you sent them after a totally innocent family. Now you've basically arranged for a family to be harrassed and vandalized and...oh, again, would you look at that... terrorized in their own home.

Now, having made such a monumental error, do they recant it on the same show, reaching the same audience and thus making progress towards at least attempting to fix the situation? Nah...why do that? Much better to just send a quick, private email of apology and a one line note in the local paper and call it a day. Things will sort themselves out in the end, right?

Yeah, FOX really needs to go away soon...I'm not even going to start in on certain members of their viewing audience (though the phrase sycophantic sheep does come to mind at this time).

Comments

[dwarf.livejournal.com]

That is remarkable.

In a just world, the resulting law suit would break Fox in half and spill the leftovers on the hot LA roadside.

dwarf

[skunk237.livejournal.com]

Rupert needs a good, swift kick in the face.

[gremlingirl.livejournal.com]

I smell a lucrative lawsuit.

[taerowyn.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't that be sweet to see.

[taerowyn.livejournal.com]

Or two, or three...or hey, one from everybody that's ever been screwed over or lied to by FOX...this could be fun

[taerowyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, please, oh please, oh please...and a lot of bad press too boot. Wouldn't that be nice?

[skunk237.livejournal.com]

we can have an auction to sell the right to be the first in line to give him his first kick. then, we could have an auction for the rights to the second, and so on.

perhaps we could raise enough money to start a news agency that actually does its job!

[schwa242.livejournal.com]

I hope they can get past the lengthy appeals process Fox will no doubt go through. I'm sure Fox will try to use cash to ride it out.