Sometimes the news drives me crazy and it's not the news.

[cactuswatcher]

Taking a quick read of the NBC coverage of the unfortunate accident involving West Point cadets I found:

The prestigious U.S. Military Academy, also known as West Point, was founded more than two centuries ago, according to its website...

according to its website
OMG!
1. You needed to go to the Academy's website to learn it's over 200 years old? ... Okay, maybe you weren't raised in this country so you didn't know. But it kind of puts a stamp on the limit of your knowledge of the country, and...

2. You thought it necessary to qualify/hedge your statement, by referring to the fact you checked their website? You think no one would believe you otherwise? You think the military is so untrustworthy they'd fib about how old the Academy is? And...

3. The age of the Academy is immaterial to the story. Why did you think it wise to include this stray piece of info, at all? Then you decided you needed to back it up with "according to its website"?

Even the Internet news needs editors!

Comments

[conuly]

According to the US website, the USA is over 250 years old, but I'm not sure that isn't just puffery.

[shadowkat]

Sometimes I think the internet has not made us more informed, but less informed? Or the misinformation is mind-boggling.