Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Newspaper Highlights Homeless Iraq Veteran; Discovers the Story is a LIE
The leftwing elements of the American media likes to find 1) stories that make President Bush look bad, 2) stories that make the US military look bad, and, finally, 3) stories that make BOTH look bad. If they can find the first two, it is great. If they can find one that fits into the third category, they feel they have hit a home run.
So, in this vein, we turn to the Madison, Wisconsin, Capital Times, which highlighted Memorial Day weekend the story of one Jeremy Cofer, who claimed that he had served in Iraq only to return home not being able to find a job and was now homeless.
The paper ran with the story at a time when we should be celebrating veterans. The paper rushed the story into print, making the US military look bad.
The paper didn't check its facts, as subsequent events proved that the "homeless veteran" was really a fraud.
Surprise, surprise, surprise!
Veteran's Story Was Fabricated
If this were any other story, the editor AND the writer would be fired.
But because they can "oops, we goofed!" an apology right into our faces, they can get away with it.
Notice that this phony baloney story received absolutely no national attention. Figures.
The leftwing elements of the American media likes to find 1) stories that make President Bush look bad, 2) stories that make the US military look bad, and, finally, 3) stories that make BOTH look bad. If they can find the first two, it is great. If they can find one that fits into the third category, they feel they have hit a home run.
So, in this vein, we turn to the Madison, Wisconsin, Capital Times, which highlighted Memorial Day weekend the story of one Jeremy Cofer, who claimed that he had served in Iraq only to return home not being able to find a job and was now homeless.
The paper ran with the story at a time when we should be celebrating veterans. The paper rushed the story into print, making the US military look bad.
The paper didn't check its facts, as subsequent events proved that the "homeless veteran" was really a fraud.
Surprise, surprise, surprise!
Veteran's Story Was Fabricated
Dear Readers:
We've been snookered.
The front-page story on Memorial Day about the Marine veteran who claimed he served seven years on active duty, was seriously injured in Bosnia and now can't get a job in Madison was fabricated by the veteran. Jeremy Cofer, 31, actually served less than two years on active duty and was never sent overseas, where he claimed he saw his best friend die in Bosnia.
When confronted with suspicions about the story Wednesday, Cofer authorized the release of his military records, where his lies became painfully apparent. He had told the same story in great detail to several people, one of whom contacted The Capital Times and urged us to do a story over the Memorial Day weekend.
Nevertheless, we at the newspaper must take the blame. Both our reporting and editing processes broke down on this story, holiday weekend or not. There were enough red flags that should have caused us to check further. For that, we apologize and will take steps to prevent something like this from happening again.
Sincerely,
Dave Zweifel, editor
If this were any other story, the editor AND the writer would be fired.
But because they can "oops, we goofed!" an apology right into our faces, they can get away with it.
Notice that this phony baloney story received absolutely no national attention. Figures.
