Saturday, August 01, 2009

Alaska Blogger Rumor Test

I've seen lots of people accusing Alaska 'Progressive' bloggers of "knowingly posting false rumors." In our defense, I and others have said things like, "They almost always say it's a rumor, they've challenged each other when someone's gone overboard, often the 'rumors' have proved correct or were never disproven, or they have eventually acknowledged the rumor was false."

So Gryhpen at the Immoral Minority this morning has a rumor that we can test out in the next weeks or months. He's written:

Exclusive! Sarah and Todd Palin are Splitsville!

Earlier this week one of my best sources claimed to have explosive new information for me.

It took all week for us to finally get together, but last night we finally sat down for an amazing conversation. And what I heard made my jaw drop.

According to my source Sarah is finished with Todd and has decided to end their marriage. . .
The main test will be what happens in the next weeks or months. Do the Palins get divorced or does their marriage stay intact? Even that isn't a perfect test. Sure, if they announce this week they are splitting, then we'll have to give it to Gryphen that his source was right.

But his rumor is about something that is going to happen, not something that already happened, so his post and subsequent publicity on it could affect whether it does or doesn't happen. It could put more pressure on the family that causes things to follow the prediction, or it could cause the couple to hang in there and keep the marriage going to prove the bloggers and media are wrong.


Is the rumor qualified or stated as a fact?

The headline of the post is written as though it is a known fact. In the post itself the claim is qualified by "according to my source..."

Personally, I wouldn't post something like this. First, it's personal stuff about a FORMER public official. Second, if it is true, it means the family is going through very difficult times. When people are having marital difficulties, a lot is said and tested but until they take official action, they can change their minds many times. Third, the rest of the world, in my view of things, should leave them alone to work it out. (Good friends, of course, should be there for support as needed.)

Fourth, any publicity on a topic like this simply complicates an already difficult situation.

But that's my opinion. I could also make an argument for publishing. In any case, the world of journalism - and I include television and newspapers as well as blogs in this case - is as much if not more about money and ratings as it is about news. That has led to celebrity gossip scooping and paparazzi and all the other unfortunate practices we see today. But along with that there are also probably important news stories that do get covered because of the competition.

So Gryphen is merely part of an American 'news' tradition here. And the tradition wouldn't continue if a lot of people didn't pay to get this sort of news. So the public is also responsible. I would note that the Immoral Minority does not carry ads. It does take Paypal donations, but I doubt that Gryphen is in this to get rich.

And one could charge that I'm taking part in the exploitation myself by doing this post. I don't know what unconscious motivations lurk deep in me, but I do believe that my real interest here is to turn this into one test of one Alaskan blogger's story and not as a sneaky way to put the story on my blog. I even thought of mentioning the story without names or details. But that would make it difficult when looking back, to test. The story is out anyway. Perhaps my post can refocus some people's attention to the whole business of publishing rumors.

Gryphen has put himself out there. We can try* from a story like this one to test whether he is
1. Running with unsupported rumors just to be sensational
2. Using a solid source to report a big story early
3. There are other options like "affecting the story by writing about it" though I'm not sure how we can test that.

Obviously, the story is more complicated than either it happens or it doesn't. If it happens in two years, was the story accurate? Even if it happens next week, we don't know Gryphen's motivation. I'll arbitrarily set a three months deadline. If there is no divorce filing, then this was a premature or incorrect story. For the Palins' sake, I hope that Gryphen will have to post a mea culpa.


In any case, he's put it out there. Whether you agree with what he's done or not, let's use this as a test of one Alaskan blogger's reliability. And perhaps a basis for a discussion on what we should post, shouldn't post, and why.


[UPDATE: Sunday morning: Dennis at the Alaska Report reports that Palin's attorney says this rumor is completely false. Surprise. You can see the whole post at the link. Here's the last paragraph of the the attorney's letter to Gryphen at Immoral Minority:

Others have raised the issue of honorifics already. I've always questioned why former judges and governors etc. still are called by their title. In this case, since Palin quit the job of governor, it seems inappropriate.]

8 comments:

  1. ITA with some of what you have said, but I believe the splitsville is the bright shiny object meant to distract people from a couple of meaty little tidbits also in the article:
    Item 1:


    I also learned that there was an incident back in the summer of 2008, before the McCain campaign officially tapped Sarah, where Todd Palin pulled a gun on Levi in a heated exchange concerning his relationship with Bristol. This news will be hitting the local papers here in town next week. Stay tuned.

    Item 2:

    As some of you may know Sherry's court date was moved from yesterday to August 19. The reason for this is that until just now the prosecutors REFUSED to make any kind of a deal, because of pressure they were receiving from the Governor. For some reason Palin was pushing for Sherry to receive the maximum sentence. It must be that charitable Christian heart of hers we keep hearing so much about.

    These two items make Gryphen's story much more interesting. Item 1 appears to be coming out this week and if Levi did discuss this in his VF October article, it is no longer just a rumor.

    Gryphen has put his reputation on the line - many of us are choosing to take a wait and see attitude. The "splitsville" is small - and may be just a distraction. The other two items may indeed indicate a coverup for a potential criminal action.

    Just sayin' .... I'd like to see how it rolls out before I condemn Gryphen. He's never seemed stupid to me.

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  2. You posted "If it happens in two years, was the story accurate? Even if it happens next week, we don't know Gryphen's motivation. I'll arbitrarily set a three months deadline. If there is no divorce filing, then this was a premature or incorrect story. For the Palins' sake, I hope that Gryphen will have to post a mea culpa."

    What if the Palins do just what Gryphen said, and no more? -- i.e., "Splitsville"? They could go on for the rest of their lives in Splitsville, living apart, etc. That, to me, is the essence of "ending a marriage", which is what Gryphen reported.

    I don't think it's imperative that the Palins announce anything for Gryphen's blog comment to be true.

    I looked all through his entire blog entry, and it says nothing about "filing for divorce", which is what some of the Palinbots have fastened on as a basis for SUING! (something they like to threaten and bandy about quite frequently)

    I don't think Gryphen has anything to apologize for, either now or later. No one is really rejoicing about the rumor, except to say that it's true what they say about karma...

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  3. I agree with Basheert -- don't focus too much on the divorce, the other two revelations are much more likely, and it's telling that Our Gal Meg did not even mention them in her screed. Pat in Texas

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  4. I'm going through the same rethink about posting the rumor - though, supposedly, both Gryphen and the folks at the Alaska Report say they have confirmation from sources in Wasilla and Anchorage.

    The fact that the National Enquirer is cited as a source about earlier afairs in the marriage, however, does not fill me with great confidence.

    Flic called me a few hours ago - she had been called earlier - and the way the story has circulated through the lefties up here, it was a confirmed, done deal that had blown up all over the place. I got the impression that it was on the news even, and not having cable, could not confirm.

    It's a great test - but it is also a caution. Blogs of every stripe, particularly the more partisan, traffic in rumor happily in a way that 'professional' journalists can not. Just because we are not Palin fans does not mean that we should not care about the truthfulness of what we post. Should we be proven wrong, I'll be the first to post a retraction.

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  5. I will put this out there as a conspiracy Idea.The palins put this out there themselves and hoped it would spread so the bloggers would not be taken seriously.Could be!!!

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  6. Anon @ 04:56:00 pm AKDT, remember, no progressive AK blogger has said "divorce", just Meg Stapleton and a horde of Palinbots.

    That would be so clever of the Palins to float a false "splitsville" rumor just to undermine the direction of progressive bloggers.

    /sarcasm

    Sarah Palin could have done that by simply acting professionally while still a Governor.

    The progressive AK bloggers I read are more interested in fair and competent and open government, social services provided by the state where they are most needed, and encouragement of responsible industry and development. Not in nitpicking this quitter -- although she has done everything she could to put the bullseye target on her own back.

    Palin's own city, Wasilla, is a prime example of what an incompetent manager she was; and the present state of the entire state of Alaska is a prime example of how incompetent she was for 2-1/2 years. Even incompetent klutzes have hero-worshipers, though.

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  7. Whether or not anyone cares is the big issue. If Palin says she is leaving Todd, that means that words came out of her mouth that someone was paying attention to her and that she said she and Todd were not together. This is the same female who claimed to not know what a VP did two weeks before she and McCain became partners.

    She has a multimillion dollar book deal, she is set for life if she nevr makes another public appearnace, so who cares what she does? Let us hope that until she gets educated on where the continents are and various political ideaologies that she stays happy and out of our news.

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  8. In my opinion a blog can't be handled as a newspaper for example. Most of the blog writer are hobby writers (I mean they are not journalists). On the other hand I don't think so that blogs are official and widely-accepted mediums as I can't use blog posts as source for my diploma work at university or anywhere.

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