Earthquake Tilts Washington Monument?

At 1:51PM, 45 minutes after the 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Eastern seaboard, Fox News reported:

"Megyn Kelly just shared word that a D.C. police officer told a Fox News producer that there is concern that the Washington Monument may be tilting following a 5.9 magnitude earthquake."  

You know, Fox News:  The bastion of misinformation.  Well, despite the source, the news went viral.  Twitter was aflutter with the news that Washington had inherited it's very own Leaning Tower of Pisa.  According to USA Today, however, this is a picture of the Washington Monument, moments after the quake hit:

Um....not leaning.  Still phallic.  Still perfectly erect.  Quoting Park Service spokesman Jeffrey Olson, there was "absolutely no damage" to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial or other memorials along the National Mall.

Fox News has yet to recant or remove their story from their website.  In fact, it's still highlighted as one of the stories in their "Fox News Spotlight".

Now that's journalism.

UPDATE:  NBC Washington is reporting that upon a secondary inspection, cracks have been discovered in the stones at the top of the Washington Monument.

"The NPS said it is evaluating the structures to ensure that they are structurally sound and safe for all visitors. Agency spokesman Jeffrey Olson had told the AP that there was "absolutely no damage" to the Washington Monument, contrary to media reports elsewhere that it was leaning.

"Absolutely incorrect," U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser said of media reports that the Washington Monument was leaning.  "It stands tall and proud."

The NPS said said a preliminary inspection of the Washington Monument and found it to be structurally sound. The NPS will continue to inspect the interior of the Monument before any decisions are made about reopening it to the public."

'Fox & Friends': Get A Pap Smear At Walgreens

I don't know how I missed this a few days ago, but better late than never, right?

Last Monday, April 11th, when the cable news channels were still talking about the "The Government Shutdown That Almost Happened, But Didn't, Of 2011", the community college journalism minors at 'Fox & Friends' started talking about Democrats and funding Planned Parenthood.  Then, one of the dumbest sentences ever uttered on television was spoken.  I'll let Stephen Colbert explain.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Pap Smears at Walgreens
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A group of women nationwide decided to go to their local Walgreens, and see if they could get a pap smear or a breast exam.  They videotaped their experience.  I think they scared the stock boy.  Spoiler alert:  No stirrups next to the cat food.



I know, this post is a little video heavy, but bear with me.  It's worth it.

Just a week before the Walgreens debacle, 'Fox & Friends' reported on a "new" line of multicultural Crayola crayons and markers, meant to give children a variety of options when it comes to skin colors for their coloring books.  When I was a kid, you had a peachish color, tar black, or "burnt sienna" (which in no way resembled any person of color, whether they be Native American, African American, or Latino).  Of course, the people at 'Fox & Friends' didn't find the product as a step forward towards a conversation in diversity, but somehow offensive.



The crayons are not actually "new" by any means.  Crayola introduced them in 1992.  They've been on the market for 19 years!

Keep in mind, I do not watch Fox News at all.  The heads up on these "lapses in journalistic integrity" come second hand, usually from the internet or 'The Daily Show'.  Imagine how many blog posts I could do if only I watched the program every day.  Nah, not worth it.

My favorite 'Fox & Friends' gaffe of the last 6 months or so comes from October of last year. They reported on a story that the City of Los Angeles was investing $1 billion on 100,000 jetpacks for firefighters, paramedics, and emergency responders.  Their news source, unfortunately, turned out to be 'The Weekly World News', the same paper who had a headline yesterday called, "Obama Was Born - On Mars".  It claims that he was indeed born on Mars, and brought here as a child by aliens from the planet Zeeba.  The original jetpack story is here, by the way.




It appears that the, "Oh yeah, by the way, that story we did 45 minutes ago was complete bullshit" bit is a regular thing on the program.  SNL picked up on this a couple of weeks ago, and hit the nail right on the head.  The best part comes in at the last 30 seconds or so.



Is this even supposed to be considered news anymore?  Shouldn't they be held to the same standards as CNN or MSNBC?  Hell, shouldn't they be held to the same journalistic standards as the 'Today' show or 'Good Morning America'?  If Al Roker came on your set tomorrow, and said it was going to be 93 in Anchorage, Alaska, and snowing and -23 in Miami, wouldn't he be fired?  Why aren't these people?  Don't answer that.  It was a rhetorical question.