Apology – Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere

I find this whole story about <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/15/AR2005051500605.html" target="_new">Newsweek "apologizing"</a> extremely interesting in a number of different ways. n nThe first thing I find interesting is the <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857154/site/newsweek/" target="_new">"apology"</a> it self. n n<blockquote>But we regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst.</blockquote> n nThis is why I have been putting apology in quotes when i have been talking about it. It's a very luke-warm apology at best and doesn't really seem like an apology at all to me but so be it. The media everywhere and bloggers are calling it an apology so I will make the assumption and call it an "apology." n nThe second thing interesting about this is the blogging communities take on this. I am not going to link anybody in particular since there is so much commentary about it I would leave somebody out but the commentaries have been interesting. First you have the "liberal media bashers" who decry the media and say they are at fault for for the whole thing and need to be controlled better since this is a perfect example of their agenda to overthrow all that is decent. Then you have the people that are claiming the whole Newsweek story is true and the Military is covering it all up and needs to be abolished to protect the world from "Military-Industrial Complex." The there is the last reaction I've read which really cracks me up that amounts to "Bush did it, Bush did it. Bush did it." What exactly Bush did is beyond me but the Rabid Bush haters will take any chance to blame him for anything. n nThe last thing about this I find interesting is the "Journalism" involved in the whole incident. I'm hoping either <a href="http://www.billingsnews.blogspot.com/">David Crisp</a> or <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com/blog/citylights/index.php">Ed Kemmick</a> professional journalists could answer this one for me. First the details of what happened. n n<blockquote>Their information came from a knowledgeable U.S. government source, and before deciding whether to publish it we approached two separate Defense Department officials for comment. One declined to give us a response; the other challenged another aspect of the story but did not dispute the Qur'an charge.</blockquote> n nI was always under the impression that professional journalists, when they had a story from one source, always got separate verification of the story prior to going to print with it. So my question becomes, do two non-denials of a story equate to confirmation of the story under professional journalistic standards or did the journalists in question report a story without proper verification of the story? Answering this question isn't going to change the reaction across the Islamic world but I would be interested to know. n nI am sure that neither David nor Ed will be able to answer my question since as professionals they will want more facts before condemning their peers but in my opinion this whole thing stinks to holy hell. I love observing humans and their reactions and this is exactly the type of thing that fascinates me. The diverse reactions to the whole issue and the calling this an "apology" when it really isn't. Fascinating. n nA stiff apology is a second insult…. The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt. Gilbert Keith Chesterton n nUPDATE: Ed responded <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com/blog/citylights/index.php?p=1045">here</a> to my question. He enlightned me and I appreciate it. Thanks Ed. n nUPDATE: David Crisp responds <a href="http://billingsnews.blogspot.com/2005/05/flushing-quran.html">here</a> with his thoughts on the issue. Again enlightenment came to me from such response. Thanks David.