Longer answer: yes, they should SHARE the blame. The witchhunt was atrocious. Somebody at Reddit should have asked "proof?" before everybody blew up and started patting themselves on the back for making the *best* unfounded allegation. Some guy got a thousand upvotes for saying "WE DID IT GUYS!"
But the media F-ed up hardest. If somebody in the news had done their job and looked for official verification that Tripatha was involved, it never would have gotten anywhere; it could have just stayed a spurious internet rumor.
I keep reading this argument everywhere and it's ridiculous. Reddit is not a person, a committee, a publication, or an editorial entity. It's a community. It's like blaming Facebook or AT&T for something that happens in their network.
One of the many bad consequences of violent crime is that someone may be wrongfully accused of committing that crime. Here, law enforcement did a reasonable thing by publishing photos of the suspected bombers in order to seek the public's assistance in identifying them. Members of the public who saw the photos made a reasonable connection between those photos and a young man who (1) very much resembled one of the photos and (2) had recently disappeared from a New England college campus. That connection was worth investigating, but turned out to be mistaken. Of course, the cretins who called the young man's parents, posted horrid things on Facebook etc., ought to be ashamed of themselves: once the connection had been made, they should have left it to law enforcement to investigate. Other than that I'm not sure that this is anything other than one more unhappy consequence of the bombing.
If Reddit is worthy of criticism, what about the anchors on Boston TV news? Despite the obvious similarities to IED's used by radical Islamists, the far-left local anchors wildly speculated that because the marathon fell on the tax deadline of April 15th, right-wing, anti-tax types might be responsible. Some desperately even suggested homegrown Timothy McVeigh / Oklahoma City anti-government copycats, failing to mention the well documented Middle East connection to OKC. At least two Boston anchors should have been suspended.
Comments
Should Reddit be
Should Reddit be blamed?
Short answer: yes
Longer answer: yes, they should SHARE the blame. The witchhunt was atrocious. Somebody at Reddit should have asked "proof?" before everybody blew up and started patting themselves on the back for making the *best* unfounded allegation. Some guy got a thousand upvotes for saying "WE DID IT GUYS!"
But the media F-ed up hardest. If somebody in the news had done their job and looked for official verification that Tripatha was involved, it never would have gotten anywhere; it could have just stayed a spurious internet rumor.
I keep reading this argument
I keep reading this argument everywhere and it's ridiculous. Reddit is not a person, a committee, a publication, or an editorial entity. It's a community. It's like blaming Facebook or AT&T for something that happens in their network.
Also, plenty of non-stupids
Also, plenty of non-stupids on reddit not only said "proof?" but also "shut up, that's insane."
Looking for someone to blame is pointless
One of the many bad consequences of violent crime is that someone may be wrongfully accused of committing that crime. Here, law enforcement did a reasonable thing by publishing photos of the suspected bombers in order to seek the public's assistance in identifying them. Members of the public who saw the photos made a reasonable connection between those photos and a young man who (1) very much resembled one of the photos and (2) had recently disappeared from a New England college campus. That connection was worth investigating, but turned out to be mistaken. Of course, the cretins who called the young man's parents, posted horrid things on Facebook etc., ought to be ashamed of themselves: once the connection had been made, they should have left it to law enforcement to investigate. Other than that I'm not sure that this is anything other than one more unhappy consequence of the bombing.
Anatomy of a smear: What about Ch's 4 and 5
If Reddit is worthy of criticism, what about the anchors on Boston TV news? Despite the obvious similarities to IED's used by radical Islamists, the far-left local anchors wildly speculated that because the marathon fell on the tax deadline of April 15th, right-wing, anti-tax types might be responsible. Some desperately even suggested homegrown Timothy McVeigh / Oklahoma City anti-government copycats, failing to mention the well documented Middle East connection to OKC. At least two Boston anchors should have been suspended.