Were I in Sun-Sentinel’s shoes, I’d sit still as a mouse, hoping this will all blow over without much more fuss. Elizabeth Baier quotes Murtha several times in her Breaking World News (Brit Hume of Fox News as well as the Wall Street Joural have taken Baier’s ball and run with it) claims of what Murtha, as well as others, said. When direct quotes are used, it’s often the case the reporter has recorded the event, in order to make certain their quotes are accurate. What initially drew my attention was her lack of quotes for what she claims Murtha said in her first paragraph.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-ctownhall25jun25,0,7119684.story

Shortly after reading the Sun Sentinel story, I googlenews’ed “Murtha Miami Iran Nuclear”
Among the dozens of hits quoting Ms. Baier indexed within a few hours of the Sun Sentinel’s earth shaking expose’ of Murtha’s talk, I found another article published by the Miami Herald.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/14896189.htm

You will notice, this writer totally missed Murtha’s “shot heard around the world” (technorati now has 400+ hits for what Ms. Baier claims Murtha said.

Due to the unlikely chance Ms. Baier did *not* quote Murtha from a recording she made at the event, I’ve written the public relations people for the school where Murtha spoke, Florida International University, asking their PR department to preserve their recordings of this event.

I’ve sent inquiries to the entire editorial boards of the Sun Sentinel, Wall Street Journal, Arizona Sun Star and Miami Herald, asking them to persue any copy of any recording of this event.

It shouldn’t take more than a day, or three, for Ms Baier to experience personally, what she felt entitled to foist on John Murtha’s head. Whether you like or despise John Murtha is no longer the story. The real story is … just how far has mainstream media fallen into the New School of Jerry Springer Journalism. I spent a few hours on the phone with a friend of mine who is editor for a news site. I’m letting him run with this ball. You can follow how this story develops at:

http://theinfozone.net/

chancuff

This goofy story is being investigated as I write. Murtha never said any such thing, not in Miami, not anywhere else, not ever. Look for Arizona Star and Sun-Sentinel to publish the appropriate corrections in their papers. Knight Rider picked up this story over the weekend. They’ll drop it like a hot potato in the next couple hours. Elizabeth Baier, the author of this story, will be wondering what the big deal is about making up stuff and reporting it as news. If anyone here has contacts at The National Enquirer, perhaps now would be a good time to email her. I suspect she’s going to need a new job soon. Write condolences and “buck up!” note to her at: ebaier@sun-sentinel.com