Long-time newspapers folks—those who claim to have ink in their veins—will confirm that headlines are critical, a good lead paragraph extremely important, and then the rest of the information presented in clear, easy to read prose with a closing paragraph that wraps it all up nicely.
And editors who do layout will also verify the critical importance (echoed by real estate agents) concerning "location, location, location".
The Daily Hampshire Gazette has come under withering fire yet again. Remember that non-critical front page article about the award winning Umass professor who subscribes to the whacked theory that 9/11 was an inside job published on, you know, 9/11?
This time it's for an overly sympathetic puff piece on 75- year old Parvin Niroomand, the driver who ran down cyclist Misty Bassi, 33, on a bright clear Memorial Day morning and fled the scene.
Now obviously had the driver been a white college age male who drove back to his Frat House with blood on the cracked windshield, the Gazette would not have done that. In fact, Amherst PD probably would have arrested such a perp on the spot rather issuing a “summons to appear in court.”
But the driver was a woman, senior citizen and a Muslim--any one of which would not have tripped such a PC sympathetic response, but when you combine them…
Nick Grabbe called me yesterday afternoon for a slight correction: the Gazette had run his initial nicely written sympathetic background article on Misty Bassi the day before the puff piece on her killer, but unfortunately editors chose to combine it with Scott Merzbach’s top of the front page article about the older woman getting charged (but not arrested) for hit and run.
Mr. Grabbe’s prose did not even start until page B-8 so many, many readers probably never saw it.
Regardless, the front page puff piece on a driver who crushes a cyclist and then runs strait home was completely inappropriate and probably approved by the same editor who combined two stories that should have stood alone the day before and buried the important one on page 8.
Thus the (deserved) public stoning.
21 comments:
Couldn't agree with you more Larry.
Thanks.
But adhering to the old paradigm of Bricks and Mortar Media, they will "never apologize, never explain".
I didn't have the opportunity to read the Gazette article. Did it state that she is a Muslim? What does her religion have to do with anything? Why did the Gazette include that?
Vehicular Manslaughter plus hit and run. ###
Larry, I'm Melissa Ferman, Misty's best friend. Thank you for pointing out some of the inadequacies of the pieces published about Misty. Nick called me and got the information that he printed about Misty. I only had access to it online so I didn't see the printed placement of the pieces. I was irritated with the longer, laudatory article found online on Friday and said so much on the Gazette's website. There is more to the story that the Gazette cannot publish because no one on Ms. Niroomand's side will come forward officially and publicly state it. I have no doubt that she's devastated but would like to hear that from her or from a representative of her family and hear the full story. This has been the hardest week of my life and I still have unanswered questions.
Hey Melissa,
I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend, and sorrowful for the way it has played out since.
I did suggest to Nick Grabbe yesterday on the phone that he should reinterview you after the court hearing tomorrow for your reaction.
Shame on you for putting her religion into this. That's pathetic.
Well, the Gazette mentioned that the innocent VICTIM was a “member of a pagan group on campus”.
In fact, the Gazette went out of their way NOT to mention that her killer was a Muslim, although they used the exact same photo published in the Amherst Bulletin less than a year ago from a puff piece on “Ramadan, a time of purification.”
http://www.amherstbulletin.com/story/id/107986/
The town is partially responsible for this tragedy.
By not repairing Lincoln Avenue (there are pot holes half way to China) the town is intentionally shifting traffic to the already-overloaded University Drive.
And that, it will be shown, was a likely contributing factor to this tragedy.
Although Larry is right, were this a white male UM kid, the APD likely would have shot him on sight.
911 was an inside job.
still in denial larry? never heard of false flags eh?
you took 911 hook line and sinker. I bet you believe saddam had WMD's. and Cheney's shotgun blast was an accident.
And you must also believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny (Hey, maybe they formed an Evil Axis to pull of 9/11.)
This accident destroyed two lives.
A young woman in her prime full of hopes and aspirations. An older woman who wants to die because of what she's done but has to live with the pain, sorrow and regret of her new reality. She would give her life to undo what happened. Her sorrow and grief is as immeasureable as that of Missy's friends and family.
911truth.org
40 reasons
And I don't think Misty's friend and family would disagree with you.
But I think they would like to hear it from Ms. Niroomand rather than an internet Anon.
(I'm speaking of course to Anon 10:39 PM and not the Nitwit Anon 11:02 PM.)
have you ever studied 911? or do you just take fox news as the truth? I think you are afraid to admit the cheney gang fooled you. there is SO much evidence, back up by highly respected scientists and teachers, that to not investigate further.
you are the nitwit larry... you fancy yourself an investigator... I bet you have never even read into it.
40 reasons.... read it and comment.... nitwit.
I read the Popular Mechanics special report (that was good enough for me).
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1227842.html
Larry,
Interesting to read this piece where you put some blame on APD for not immediately arresting the old woman, and yet you kiss their ass from here to Cherry Hill when you want to ride around with them as a cub reporter.
You're just like the folks you constantly condemn. Tell whichever story fits your needs on any given day.
-Ed
No, actually you nitwit, I'm an objective observer. And what I see is what you get.
Larry,
The Gazette mentioned Misty being a part of the pagan group on campus because Nick asked me if she had any kind of spiritual affiliation. I told him she was a member of SPIRALS and he was aware that she and I went to an all-girls Catholic high school together but Misty didn't consider herself Catholic anymore. Misty would have wanted SPIRALS mentioned by name because that was where she gained most of her friends in Amherst. That's likely why he mentioned it (sans the name.)
The paper just did a piece about Ms. Niroomand's arraignment online. I noticed they quoted Misty's aunts Lori and Lisa. From what I can tell, the driver is absolutely devastated and I can totally understand and truly have empathy for her. She'll have to live with the pain of the tragedy she's caused for the rest of her life. We in Misty's family feel that's justice served. Anything the state wishes to do to her will simply accomplish meeting the requirements of the law.
The fact that Ms. Niroomand is Muslim really doesn't matter to me. She could be a 2' tall furry salamander and in all honesty, it doesn't change what happened. She didn't do this on purpose and Misty, the most non-judgmental person I have ever known, wouldn't have anyone slamming this woman for her religion nor her ethnicity. She'd be livid that she got run over at all but once the motives were known (there were none), she wouldn't be mad at the woman.
I know this for a fact because a month to the day before we lost Misty, our friend and former neighbor from Belchertown, Tom Tanner, was gunned down in Athens, GA by that crazed UGA professor. Misty and I shared the same shock and horror over that tragedy and I know well her reaction to that incident so I know how she'd react here. (Zinkhan's motives were pure evil and his actions no accident and Misty was furious about that.)
...Melissa
popular mechanics as a source?
a reporter satisfied with one hardy boys magazine as a source?
LOL you are a nitwit.
Hey Melissa,
As I said to Amherst Town Meeting a couple years ago (in favor of flying our commemorative flags on 9/11, which they voted down): the victims THAT awful day were black, white, male, female, gay, strait, Catholic, Jewish, etc.
All that matters is they were, like your friend Misty, innocent victims going about their daily life on a beautiful morning.
I just hate it when the media (in this case the Gazette) treats a situation differently because of age, gender, or religious affiliation.
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