Posted
4:49 PM
by Gene
One of the fiercest tools in the news hack's arsenal is
the anecdotal report. The hack can take an anecdote or several and create a trend. Whether or not the trend exists is irrelevant. Anecdotal reporting cements the hack as the final arbiter, not to be overruled even by an act of God; as we've said too often before, news hacks are Gods. Some people -- think MORT ZUCK and the clowns at the
DAILY MAIL...and also at
The Paper of Re-CORD -- are addicted to anecdotal reporting, usually on prurient topics. We take little comfort that news outlets most prone to anecdotal reporting may also be most prone to outright lying.