Nonstory Leads To Nondeaths?

I'm almost thinking of pulling a null set out and leaving a blank posting here because it could spark nearly as much interest as a full fledged article. However, I have the need to write, so let's recap at the beginning.

Newsweek ran a story about how the big bad US military tried to flush a koran down a toilet in GitMo.

Newsweek retracted the story when it became apparent that the incident did not happen. There was no evidence it ever happened, nor could anyone corroborate that it happened.

However, the retraction came only after claims that 15-20 people were killed in Afghanistan rioting over the Newsweek story highlighting the koran desecration.

Now, we get word that those deaths may never have occurred and that those riots/demonstrations were planned months in advance.

So, what gives?

Well this part we know - Newsweek was wrong to run with stories that could not be corroborated by multiple sources, especially when the nature of the story had the chance to cause riots.

The possibility of rioting was a given considering that similar claims have led to riots in the past.

Problem is that there was insufficient evidence that the riots that occurred contemporaneously with the Newsweek story had the casualties claimed and that the riots were due to the Newsweek story.

Where was the media's sources on the story?

G2B has examined every English-language news story about these deaths through Lexis Nexis. G2B has scoured the Internet, including foreign and non-English-language news sources for any details of these deaths. And G2B has queried both U.S. and Afghan official sources for any details about these alleged deaths.

No U.S. officials contacted can provide any corroboration for any deaths. And Afghan officials uniformly clam up with apprehension at the mere asking of questions.

Once again, we're dealing with a paucity of sources for a major news story and a lack of investigative journalism to confirm events, which in this case would corroborate a rise in anti-Americanism and peg the US as anti-Islamic. Many writers, myself included, relied upon the news reports stating the casualties in those regions without hesitation.

Why would someone want to exaggerate riot claims? Perhaps to show the dangers posed by the Islamists. Or, to show that the terrorists will use everything imaginable to get out the rioters. Or, perhaps to exaggerate the anti-Americanism already present - to puff the Islamists.

Then again, why would I seek to write about the riots unquestioningly. Well, it does conform to what we know about the Islamists - they do seek to use every provocation, real or imagined, as evidence of the righteousness of their cause. Situations are exaggerated by Islamists to further their goals, claiming victory in places like Fallujah despite the fact that the terrorists were decimated.

So, what do we learn from this whole mess? Question the media's reporting on all sides of a story, even when it conforms to your point of view.

See also:
Flush, With Evidence
Quiet Marks Anti-Semitic Scrawls
Newsweek Fallout Continues
Newsweek Retracts, But Shifts Blame