As usual, I checked msnbc first thing this morning, and boy, was I surprised. The headline “Chinese troops head to Tibet.” Uh oh, I thought, what now? Was there something I missed in the last few days? Why would China be sending more troops to Tibet? But then I read the story (via AP).
The lead:
ZHONGDIAN, China – China sent additional troops into restive areas and made more arrests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in an effort to suppress anti-government protests even as the Dalai Lama offered face-to-face negotiations with Chinese leaders.
First question: When? Does this writer know his 5 W’s? Come on AP….
It was pretty obvious that China sure did send in more troops LAST WEEK!!! Why would MSNBC, almost a full week after the riots, come out with a headline like this? Hmm…
Hundreds of paramilitary police aboard at least 80 trucks traveled along the main road winding through the mountains into southeastern Tibet. Others set up camp and patrolled in riot gear, helmets and, for a few, rifles in the area above Tiger Leaping Gorge, a tourist attraction that usually sees little unrest.
Whoa! A whole 80 trucks? By a nice touristy spot?!?!? This must be serious. But! This all happed a few days ago. Again, why all the hoopla now? I don’t have an answer to that. Maybe it’s to scare everyone in America. Hey America! Look what China is doing!
This is the “China Threat” tactic the west would like everyone to believe. There is simply no excuse for creating a headline like this that implies recent developments, as if China has just now sent a bunch of troops to Tibet. Most people won’t read the story, only scan the headline. But even if the story is read, readers will probably not understand when this happened. That’s because the story leaves that important point out. Very bad reporting if you ask me. Even worse of msnbc to make it a big headline.
Interesting. Where are some recent photos? How do you know what is REALLY true in the information you get?