The claim in certain quarters of the dextrosphere, including here, that a Mexican drug cartel took over ranches in Texas deserves euthanasia. There is no confirmation on the record, just anonymous sources. Texas newspapers say the story is groundless. Time to put it out of its misery.
The story got an inauspicious start by using anonymous sources. I think the use of anonymous sources is bad journalism because the reader isn’t given information to confirm the story. Readers must trust the journalist to get it right. “Trust-me” reporting has rightly brought journalism to the low regard it now holds with the public.
Responsible reporting gives the public access to as much of the pertinent information as possible, so readers can independently judge a story’s credibility. The lack of pertinent information was one of the criticisms I had of a so-called “fact check” by PolitiFact in a recent post here.
Movie critic David Ehrenstein made a definitive argument against anonymous sources a few years ago. Ehrenstein happens to be on the left (anarcho-syndicalist, I believe), but his reasoning is worth study by journalists of all persuasions.
“The source seeking anonymity isn’t ‘bucking the system’ — he is the system . . .
“Likewise, when New York Times reporters Jeff Gerth and James Risen spread (to put it most charitably) inaccurate information about nuclear research scientist Wen Ho Lee (resulting in Lee’s being incarcerated in chains in solitary confinement without access to legal counsel for nine months), their disinclination to identify the parties who fed them this line (currently the subject of a suit lodged by Mr. Lee) is by no means a blow for a free and independent press.”
Over at Big Government, Bob Owens dissects the sources of the rumored takeover by the Los Zetas drug cartel.
Cypress News publisher John G. Winder is sticking with the story, not because any additional evidence has been produced, but because the two sources for his version of the story, blog Digger’s Realm and Examiner.com’s San Diego (CA) County Political Buzz Examiner blogger Kimberly Dvorak are standing by their militiamen and anonymous police sources.
The original Cypress Times story? A re-publication of the original Digger’s Realm story.
The Digger’s Realm story? Two anonymous Laredo police sources and a San Diego California Minuteman named Jeff Schwilk who claims he got his information from… an anonymous Laredo PD officer.
San Diego County Poltical Buzz Examiner Kimberly Dvorak? She claims her information also comes from two anonymous Laredo PD sources.
Are we noticing a pattern here? Every bit of of this claim, which has now scattered far and wide across the Internet, can be traced back to two anonymous police department sources of a police department that does not even have jurisdiction where the alleged invasion is taking place.
I invite Digger and Kimberly Dvorak to provide me with the names and contact information of their anonymous police sources. Perhaps the officers will provide me with the answers to two simple questions that neither blogger has apparently thought to establish yet.
* What are the physical addresses of the two ranches Los Zetas are said to have taken over?
* What are the names of the ranchers that have been displaced from their ranches by Los Zetas?
It seems rather odd that the stories promoting this claim say that people were forced out, but that neither has thought to name, locate, or try to interview the best possible eyewitnesses. That is what you would expect from competent journalists. We’re not seeing it here.
Instead, we’re offered a conspiracy theory where law enforcement at every level, the media, and the citizens of Webb County are conspiring to cover up an invasion by a handful of drug dealers.
Please read the whole thing.
Please also consider that the bloggers and reporters standing by the groundless Mexican invasion rumor invite derision from such leftist propaganda sites as Media Matters for America, which is exploiting it to smear conservative bloggers. (Yes, I know that Media Matters blasting the right for inaccuracy is hypocritical given its own record of wild inaccuracies . . .)
The lack of coverage in the MSM is taken by some believers in the Texas ranch takeover story as confirmation. But as a card-carrying MSMer, I can tell you that sometimes, the MSM actually gets it right. This is one of them.
Comments 4
Don’t hold your breath waiting for a retraction. Ms. Dvorak does not respond to comments here, positive or negative. It seems like she writes there, but never reads SD Rostra. Is anybody awake over at Thor’s assistant?
We monitor the blog consistently and are indeed quite awake, at least at the present. In fact, you will see we posted this very article as a linked comment on Ms. Dvorak’s original blog post this morning, to help readers that may only see her article to also see that another Rostra blogger — Brad Fikes — had something to say on the matter.
We also tweeted Brad’s article, resulting in others retweeting it and Rick Amato sharing it with his facebook readers. (Find us on twitter at @sandiegorostra)
That said, what connection does our being “awake” have to do with whether Ms. Dvorak chooses to respond to comments on HER posts? We don’t edit, pre-approve or mandate the content or actions of any of the bloggers on SD Rostra. We DO facilitate a forum for a myriad of bloggers, some of whom may not agree with each other. Case in point: This piece by Brad Fikes.
If you believe that being “awake” means that we should force an independent contributor to this site to respond to comments, or to remove a post, uhhh, that’s not typically part of our job description. Those disagreeing with a story have the freedom — within the parameters of reasonableness and good taste — to disagree with it, call it into question, ask for proof, and the like. Mr. Fikes has done an admirable job of that. “Got Kooks” has also commented his/her disagreement. Ms. Dvorak is an adult and may choose to respond or not.
We’re going back to our nap now. Thanks.
Thor’s Assistant,
Thank you for the tweets! And thank you, Rick Amato, for telling your Facebook fans!
I admire SD Rostra’s philosophy of encouraging discussion, not imposing a sterile conformity.
The Laredo Police Department has completely exposed Kimberly Dvorak as a hoaxster and liar…Time for her to pack up her tent and move on…