In the wake of the tragic shooting in Colorado that left at least 14 dead and dozens more wounded, very little was known about the shooter. However, ABC’s Brian Ross found it necessary to make assertions regarding the suspect’s affiliations.
On live television, Brian Ross stated, “There is a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado page on the Colorado Tea Party site, as well…talking about him joining the Tea Party last year.”
Ross went on to say that he wasn’t even sure if it was the same Jim Holmes. Any basic investigation would have found that he was completely wrong. The man he was talking about is a 52-year old former law enforcement officer, who was quoted at the Daily Caller:
“What kind of idiot makes that kind of statement? Really, seriously, how do we take a journalist seriously when it’s pretty clear they really haven’t done any sort of check on their facts?”
By the time of Ross’s low-class journalistic demonstration, both the name and age of the actual suspect had been released. It was known that the shooter was 24-years old, not 52. Furthermore, the innocent Holmes stated that media never called him before going on air with their misrepresentation of actual facts, and have not contacted him with an apology.
Beyond the problem that that a man and his political beliefs were unjustly attacked, is the fact that this is what counts as journalism by today’s mainstream media. Ross himself seemed to pride himself on the notion that the shooting suspect was somehow tied to the Tea Party. Just look at the smug smile that he couldn’t hold back as he reported the fabrication:
Quick, someone tell Mrs. Ross it still works!
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