Friday, April 27, 2012

Perfect Microcosm of What's Wrong
With The Media Today



Little microcosm of what's wrong with media today:  


First the story that goes viral on a wrong 1st impression: 


http://deadspin.com/5905250/worst-people-ever-catch-foul-ball-refuse-to-give-it-to-a-crying-child-are-vilified-by-michael-kay
An unfortunate scene unfolded in Arlington tonight as a pair of Rangers fans caught a foul ball tossed into the stands by Mitch Moreland in the eighth inning of Rangers-Yankees, then refused to give the ball to the toddler sitting next to them—instead choosing to pose for pictures and generally behave like douchebags.
Yankees play-by-play man Michael Kay—capturing the thoughts of America for probably the first time ever—chided the couple for "rubbing it in the kid's face," and since this couple deserves to be publicly shamed for being dicks to a little kid, here they are. [YES]
Then the actual facts catch up to provide the context about what actually happened: 


http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/27/11428418-crying-baseball-tots-mom-he-doesnt-get-everything-all-the-time?lite
Three-year-old Cameron Shores burst into tears when he narrowly lost out on catching a foul ball tossed into the stands to a couple sitting next to his family at a Texas Rangers-New York Yankees game. The couple, Shannon Moore and Sean Leonard, became instant viral video villains when the footage hit the 'net. 
But sometimes a picture isn’t worth a thousand words. Sometimes stories require context. The Shores told their tale of baseballs lost and baseballs gained on TODAY Friday.
“I felt sorry for Cameron and for the other couple because they were made out to be such horrible, cold-hearted people and I didn’t get that impression from them at all,” said Cameron’s mother, Crystal. “They were very sweet and they talked to Cameron a lot."
The couple was attending their first baseball game and are getting married Saturday. They actually offered the toddler the ball, but his parents turned down the gift.
Of course, the offering of the ball to the toddler, and the parent's turning it down happened before the cameras got focused on them.  


We live in an age where people will 'instantly' tell you they 'know' what is happening based on very flimsy - or even no - evidence at all.  This one was quickly corrected.  No harm no foul!


Hey! Can anybody think of another example where the media rushed out a first impression of a story that turned out to be wrong?  

3 comments:

  1. My problem is this: "The couple was attending their first baseball game and are getting married Saturday. They actually offered the toddler the ball, but his parents turned down the gift." So we have that as hearsay. But is there any PROOF of that? Any video that shows them saying this?

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    Replies
    1. In the video at the MSNBC page the parents of the toddler are interviewed.

      “He’s three and we’re kind of at that stage where he thinks he gets everything and anything,” his mom explained.

      And in baseball, much like in the game of life, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

      “I never once thought that they should have given him the ball,” said Crystal. “We’re trying to teach him he doesn’t get everything every time.”

      I'm deaf, so I can't really check, but in the video interview I believe they state the couple offered to give them the ball and they declined it. This was before the cameras were focused on them.

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