Reports
circulating quickly in the shock of the Navy Yard shootings contained
at least one line which needs checking. The New York Times treated
this line with caution, reporting:
"Mr.
Alexis’s father has told the authorities that his son had been
among the first responders at the World Trade Center and that he
believed that Mr. Alexis suffered from post-traumatic stress and had
difficulty controlling his anger. It was not known whether he was
involved in any rescue effort."
These
words appear in the article "Naval Yard Gunman Is Said To Have
Had Mental Ills for a Decade," by MICHAEL
S. SCHMIDT,
SARAH
MASLIN NIR and
TIMOTHY
WILLIAMS; published:
September 17, 2013.
By
contrast, the UK Daily Mail Online appeared to cut to the
journalistic chase with this headline:
"Revealed:
Washington gunman who murdered 12 had 'anger issues' after rescuing
victims of 9/11 and had been kicked out of the Navy after gun
charge," by JAMES
NYE,
LOUISE
BOYLE,
DAVID
MARTOSKO IN WASHINGTON,
MEGHAN
KENEALLY and
PAUL
THOMPSON IN WASHINGTON; PUBLISHED:
08:11
EST, 16 September 2013 | UPDATED:
07:12
EST, 17 September 2013. (Highlighting supplied by this writer.)
The contrast between the two claims may be checked by consulting 9/11 Research: World Trade Center Survivors, which reveals:
"Here
we focus on a much smaller group of people who either escaped or were
rescued from Ground Zero after being trapped by the Towers' falls.
Just 20 people are known to fit this description. Four of those were
trapped and rescued by Ground Zero workers. The rest found their way
out of that scene of incomprehensible destruction."
These
two reports demonstrate the disturbing circumstances of both events:
the 9/11 attack in Manhattan and 9/16 attack on the Navy Yard in
Washington, DC. Journalists chasing the story cannot be faulted for
being traumatized, too.
In
this context, however, this critical question arises: Does the public
remember the particular horror of First Responders' experience at
Ground Zero on 9/11? There was almost no one to rescue: the
destruction had been that thorough. Almost 3,000 people had been
incinerated.
Complicating
this entire experience on both occasions is acknowledgement that the
public, including journalists, are not observers—they are
participants, and every report must be vetted and vetted repeatedly,
just as thoroughly, indeed, as the resumes and credentials of those
seeking security clearances.
For
additional reading:
Readers
may consult the full NY Times article at
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/washington-navy-yard-shootings.html?pagewanted=all
>.
Readers may consult the full UK Daily Mail article at <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2421980/Washington-Naval-Yard-shooting-Aaron-Alexis-named-gunman-murdered-12-injured-15.html#ixzz2fAsAVUvl>.
9/11
Research: World Trade Center Survivors is available here: <http://911research.wtc7.net/sept11/victims/ wtcsurvivors.html>.
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