William W.
Lead Service Attendant
I just tweeted the author of the article, asking for another source. We'll see if I get a response.
Man beaten to death at San Antonio Station
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iggle_traveler
Train Attendant
What alarms me more than Breitbart's spin is that it's not reported anywhere else at all. Maybe it didn't happen. But if it didn't, the story mentions an Amtrak employee as the witness; the story also says an Amtrak media relations manager confirmed the incident, so if it didn't happen Amtrak should be disavowing those statements pretty quickly.
OTOH if it did happen, why is no one else reporting it? It's supposed to have happened three days ago so the facts can't be that hard to ascertain. Certainly if it's true it's newsworthy.
OTOH if it did happen, why is no one else reporting it? It's supposed to have happened three days ago so the facts can't be that hard to ascertain. Certainly if it's true it's newsworthy.
William W.
Lead Service Attendant
I'm not willing to decide either way on the article's accuracy at this point, we just don't know enough. I trust few people in the media at this point. It does seem strange that no one else is reporting this, but few outlets reported on the brutal beating of two Virginia Pilot reporters in Norfolk a few years ago, so perhaps there is a precedent for this sort of thing. We'll see what happens.
Devil's Advocate
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At this point only the partisan fringe of the web seems to be reporting this story. That alone doesn't mean it never happened but I honestly see no good reason why numerous local sources would intentionally ignore this. In fact I'd expect a sudden act of murder complete with witnesses to garner more attention than virtually any other type of local story. It's also very rare for the authorities to ignore requests for confirmation regarding acts of violence and/or loss of life in San Antonio. At this point I feel just as safe today as before I read this story. I've visited the area around Sunset Station on more occasions than I can count, including very late at night, and yet I've never witnessed anything worse than the occasional panhandler. Tourism is a big deal in San Antonio and even if the city council wasn't enthusiastic about spreading word about a murder our news media generally go crazy over anything that bleeds. Time will tell if there's anything to this but so far I haven't seen anything conclusive.
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Old saying about Local News: " If it Bleeds it Leads!"
VentureForth
Engineer
First of all, maybe I'm just too politically blind, but what spin on the article?
Next, I haven't read anything on Breitbart that was completely conjured up. Amazing that some here would look at Breitbart as tabloid trash and accept the Huffington Post as gospel.
Finally, I have seen plenty of crimes and accidents that should have been big news completely ignored by local media. For instance, there was a trespasser incident that delayed a train I was waiting for in Orlando a few years back. Smack in the middle of Orlando. But never saw a hint on TV or the Internet.
And, what's to say that the lefty news orgs aren't conspiring to suppress a news story about Amtrak? That sounds silly, doesn't it? Well, so does that right bashing.
Next, I haven't read anything on Breitbart that was completely conjured up. Amazing that some here would look at Breitbart as tabloid trash and accept the Huffington Post as gospel.
Finally, I have seen plenty of crimes and accidents that should have been big news completely ignored by local media. For instance, there was a trespasser incident that delayed a train I was waiting for in Orlando a few years back. Smack in the middle of Orlando. But never saw a hint on TV or the Internet.
And, what's to say that the lefty news orgs aren't conspiring to suppress a news story about Amtrak? That sounds silly, doesn't it? Well, so does that right bashing.
Ryan
Court Jester
Who said anything about treating Huffington Post as gospel?
How about you try and lay off the political flame baiting and stick to the topic?
Is there a reason you set Huff PO as a strawman yourself, only to be able to kick it down? I dont like Huff PO much either, but using strawman arguments is weak.
Living in San Antonio I can say our tv stations live and breath car crashes, shooting, and stabbings yet this story never had any mention. The story has all the making of a complete made up . In checking out the author I can see some self promoting interest here.
Nominally the expression is: a man is only as good as his reputation... personally I'll take The Economist or the BBC... the HuffPo as gospel: sorry, not in this lifetime; likewise, Breitbart: let's just say their reputation precedes them (or, they've tried hard, and have succeeded at building their reputation (if that's what one would like to call it)).
Ziv
Conductor
I think Breitbart is a useful site, though I haven't gone there as often since Andrew died. I think he actually helped Ariana start Huffpo, if memory serves. But that was when Huffington was a RINO, not a lib.
Breitbart has been pretty accurate in their stories, though they can spin and puff to make the stories fit their agenda a bit better.
I have a feeling the article is correct. It would take a pretty stupid writer to invent it out of whole cloth.
If it is wrong, Breitbart ought to fire the author post haste.
Breitbart has been pretty accurate in their stories, though they can spin and puff to make the stories fit their agenda a bit better.
I have a feeling the article is correct. It would take a pretty stupid writer to invent it out of whole cloth.
If it is wrong, Breitbart ought to fire the author post haste.
FormerOBS
Conductor
Many years ago, in late December, I was in the checkout line at the Supermarket & saw a headline which predicted the end of the world during the coming new year. On the SAME PAGE was a headline that promised to tell you how to become wealthy during the coming new year. I decided that I would be even more wealthy if I saved my money & didn't buy the magazine. And guess what? The world didn't end. "The Lord works in mysterious ways............."
:giggle:
iggle_traveler
Train Attendant
Actually, Ryan, the political flame-baiting started when it was insinuated that the originator of the thread had less than pure motives for posting a story from a racist source, otherwise why just post a shortened link (which of course wouldn't be for the sake of bandwidth or ease). Then later we have that only the "partisan fringe" is reporting it. Sorry, but that's political too. Another post mentions HuffPo and immediately people jump on that as a strawman. It was actually an example of what a lot of people see as "partisan fringe" reporting too. It was a comparison.
Years ago I lived in a town that was pretty much run by very right-wing people and the local newspaper's publisher was part of their social crowd. We used to say of the newspaper, "All the news the right sees fit to print" and it did indeed have a right-wing spin on what did manage to get printed. Thirty years later it is now in the hands of the left wing and guess what? It's only the news THEY see fit to print, with THIER spin. Meet the new boss...
Years ago I lived in a town that was pretty much run by very right-wing people and the local newspaper's publisher was part of their social crowd. We used to say of the newspaper, "All the news the right sees fit to print" and it did indeed have a right-wing spin on what did manage to get printed. Thirty years later it is now in the hands of the left wing and guess what? It's only the news THEY see fit to print, with THIER spin. Meet the new boss...
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Devil's Advocate
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If this is a legitimate comparison then where are the heavily spun and edited Shirley Sherrod and ACORN style attack stories and character assassinations on Huffington Post?
If you don't want to bother researching the specifics that's fine, but I would advise against equating indifference with objectivity. Regardless of the various false equivalency deflections involving unrelated news outlets the question that needs answering is why the conservative local media and law enforcement would want to hide this story from their conservative audience.
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Ryan
Court Jester
Stating that the news source in the OP is "partisan fringe" isn't politics, it's reality.
The fact that there are other partisan fringe outlets is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand (and quite frankly, if the only defense of Brietbart is "the left does it too", that says volumes about the "quality" of their reporting).
If HuffPost or some other left-leaning site was actually cited as a source for claims made, they would be relevant to the discussion and you may have a point. But they haven't, and you don't.
The fact that there are other partisan fringe outlets is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand (and quite frankly, if the only defense of Brietbart is "the left does it too", that says volumes about the "quality" of their reporting).
If HuffPost or some other left-leaning site was actually cited as a source for claims made, they would be relevant to the discussion and you may have a point. But they haven't, and you don't.
Old saying updated for modern times:
" Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear or read on the internet!"
" Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear or read on the internet!"
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Corollary: be wise enough and honest enough to know what one is being fed; and not waste one's time with that which is information poor, unless one is seeking entertainment.
Though long term (which might be here already): when one has a significant percentage of the voters seeking confirmation of their opinions and less interested in fact or reality, then one has the makings of a failed country, ie, nature and governance have little respect for convenient opinions, and are best approached with hard honest and verifiable facts.
M
Maury Kendall
Guest
While I wait for my popcorn to pop and our posters all retire to their respective corners for the next round of "discussions" about the veracity and integrity of The Modern Media, I'll just slip in my personal point of confusion: the apartment complex I live in is (and has been since the 1980s) called "Kimberly Woods Apartments." I invite Amtrak's media rep to do a Facebook checkin from here: "Kimberly Woods was at Kimberly Woods." Bonus point if she meets my roommate's friend...Kimberly Wood.
And to stay on topic: trains.
And to suggest a basic media 101 verification tool: someone *could* call or write the San Antonio PD's Public Information Officer to see if this actually happened. If one cared.
And to stay on topic: trains.
And to suggest a basic media 101 verification tool: someone *could* call or write the San Antonio PD's Public Information Officer to see if this actually happened. If one cared.
I am going to lock this thread pending confirmation as to whether there is any truth to the story. Since this thread will be locked, if anyone has any confirmation, please post in the random thread or PM the moderators.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
RickIronton
Train Attendant
- Joined
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*** This has yet to be verified ***
I just got off the phone with the news desk at KENS 5, the local CBS affiliate in San Antonio and they have verified the authenticity of the Breitbart article.
Their report will be on the news on their late news hour.
I just got off the phone with the news desk at KENS 5, the local CBS affiliate in San Antonio and they have verified the authenticity of the Breitbart article.
Their report will be on the news on their late news hour.
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Ziv
Conductor
Dang. I thought it was probably true but having it verified is not good news. Condolences to the poor guys family! Violence is decreasing in America but it is still a heck of a jolt when something as random as this happens.
the_traveler
Engineer
If it was verified, do you have a link? :huh: My local stations post a story on their website, saying something like "... tune in at 5 for more information."!
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