How many times have you read a news story that startles or enrages you, only to find out a few days later that it's really a much less significant story than the initial headline or article led you to believe? The phenomenon has led many on news-related message forums to follow an unofficial "48-hour rule" which encourages the news consumer to remain dispassionate after hearing an initially alarming report, until some time passes enough to obtain some pertinent details.
I believe this "48-hour rule" has its roots in the tragedy of 9-11. That morning, frightened Americans reached out in all directions for information... and a flurry of rumors and unsubstantiated reports were thrown to them by news services pressured to feed the information-hungry mob. It was the dawn of the constant headline crawl at the bottom of news channels. However, it became clear that some of the information given was inaccurate or misleading, and only information that stood the test of time without being debunked could be considered reasonably useful for discussion.
With this blog I hope to become part of the solution. I will find or accept submissions of news headlines of the sort that capture the public attention, and aim to produce a follow-up report approximately 48 hours after the event. Readers may participate as well, by submitting corrections to the original article or to my work, along with the source of their information.
In addition to corrections, I welcome discussion of the issues. I intend to allow reasonably free discussion, though I reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. I will not, however, remove a post due to disagreement with the content.
Please send all initial suggestions for an article (or other private correspondences) to 48hourrule@gmail.com. Please include whichever handle or email address you prefer to be mentioned as, or specify "anonymous".
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