It's being asserted by some friends, one reporter and others that Mediaite's Tommy Christopher did adequate due diligence to prevent publishing bogus information on the Weinergate story. That's incorrect. I've employed more rigorous standards going back to 2005, when I began covering the disappearance of Natalee Holloway and other notable crime stories. There is no shortage of individuals looking to play a blogger, or a reporter on line, whatever their motivations.
@AceofSpadesHQ @DanRiehl Yeah I can't blame @tommyxtopher much on that...Obviously some whenever someone's wrong, but not much...
There are multiple publicly available databases to confirm, not only an adult individual, but their location, family members, financial and criminal history, and much more. And it doesn't take more than a name and a state to start. Good heavens, it's as if no one has ever heard of People Search, or Zabba, to name just two alternatives - though I usually do it myself, or with help from a friend, without cost. He could have discovered the fraud in five minutes before publishing BS. There are also multiple Wikis and resource pages with instructions on how to search what's generally called the Deep Web.
Another case in point, some of you may recall Jesse Griffen, an allegedly anonymous Alaskan blogger part of the pack obsessed with Sarah Palin. Before I was done, I revealed where he worked - a kindergarten- and cost him his job, as his online presence risked exposing children to his perversions, and even mentioned portions of his finances and extended family, as appropriate.
Despite claims of being an anonymous blogger at Immoral Minority, research suggests that, through possible misjudgment, Jesse Griffin appears to have created a situation in which he has been easily identifiable as the blogger Gryphen, particularly to children, perhaps for as long as two years. School-aged children who were PC literate apparently could have had access to information posted on his blog including questionable statements like this below - apparently posted by assistant kindergarten instructor Jesse Griffin himself when discussing a possible military draft. As of this minute, the content is still live.
Christoper didn't even need to go to that length if he had exercised a little patience, assuming he didn't want to simply try to exonerate Weiner, whatever it took. One can have an adult tell you where they work. By securing the main number from the phone listings, you then call and ask for said individual by name. They are either there and the same individual, or they are not. This ain't rocket science, people.
Phone listings, alternate online identities people use as part of their actual life, as opposed to playing games on Twitter, all provide opportunities for valid cross verification. Obviously, Christopher employed none of them, while lecturing others on his alleged tremendous professionalsim as a journalist. What he and his editor are are fools, which is precisely what someone played them for - that, or they were in on it and they were exposed by the New York Times. And ignorance is no excuse when you purport to be publishing real information from, or about real people that may have an impact on their lives, as well as, or the lives of others.
Stupid, lazy or corrupt - take your pick. But one, or more of those shoes fit Mediaite. If the shoe, like the package, fits, sorry, but you can't acquit. And it certainly should not be passed off as professional, and or competent.
