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Re: Nostradamus and other nonsense about last week's attacks



I thought that this quote linked from the site Jill recommends is
interesting to archivists.  It is talking about the rumor that CNN took old
news footage of Palestinians from the 70s and represented it as current
news footage:

"So, given that the reported story was essentially true, and that the
threat of danger to field reporters made genuine footage of the event
harder to acquire in a timely matter, would it really have mattered whether
the images used for TV news snippets were taken from similar, older
footage? Stock news footage is used all the time when something more
current may not be at hand -- as long as it's not misleading, and the story
behind the images is reported accurately, the practice is defensible."

I recently attended a conference where a film maker discussed the practice
of recreating events for the purpose of enhancing a story.  He showed us a
bunch of film, but the film clip that I most clearly remember was of men
being treated for the flu in the early twentieth century by being wrapped
in blankets and put out in the freezing cold.  The film was shot in black
and white and was made to look old.  It turned out that it was not
authentic, but nowhere in the footage was that stated.

What does this kind of news reporting and film creation mean to researchers
and to our profession?  It is growing more and more difficult to determine
what is real, what is authentic, and what is archival documentation of
current events.

Just some food for thought...

Melissa Mannon
Archivist
Archives and Information Consulting Services
603-661-7611
http://www.mannon.org/archives



On Mon, 17 Sep 2001 12:34:46 -0800, Jill L Schneider <jschnidr@USGS.GOV>
wrote:

>I am forwarding this from another list.....
>
>Jill L Schneider
>USGS - Alaska Technical Data Unit
>907-786-7457
>jschnidr@usgs.gov
>http://alaskaminerals.wr.usgs.gov
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
>
>>The folks at the Urban Legends Reference Pages has put together
>>a useful page for sorting out rumor from fact about last
>>weeks events. Details about each rumor can be found at the URL listed
>>below.
>>>
>>http://www.snopes2.com/info/rumors.htm
>>         Rumors of War
>>>
>>A collection of links to pages discussing the various rumors to come out
>>of the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States of America.
>>
>>Rumors of War
>>
>>>FALSE:   A Nostradamus prophecy about the fall of two brothers (meaning
>>the World Trade Towers) predicts the imminent start of World War III.
>>
>>FALSE:   CNN used old footage to fake images of 'Palestinians dancing in
>>the street' after the terrorist attack on the USA.
>>
>>TRUE:   The planned cover for a hip-hop album due to be released in
>>November depicted an exploding World Trade Center.
>>
>>SORT OF:   Images of the World Trade Center fire reveal the face of Satan.
>>
>>TRUE:   Television evangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said that
>>liberal civil liberties groups, feminists, homosexuals and abortion rights
>
>>supporters bear partial responsibility for the terrorist attacks on the
>>USA because their actions have turned God's anger against America.
>>
>>FALSE:   You can aid the search for Osama Bin Laden by donating money to a
>
>>band of Estonian hackers.
>>
>>TRUE:   Canadian broadcaster Gordon Sinclair delivered an impassioned
>>defense of the U.S. in 1973.
>>
>>UNDETERMINED:   Man trapped high in the collapsing World Trade Tower rides
>
>>the falling debris to safety.
>>
>>
>>
>>The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/info/rumors.htm
>>
>
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I thought

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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>