Great Lakes Brewery Patron...
-Mark
Michael Moore, HALLIBURTON HALLIBURTON ect. People, the man owned Halliburton stock up to a year before the release of Farenheight 9/11 realizing it would be a conflict of interest, He sold it.
No different here or just about any other story you get these days. IMHO Everyone has to do some searching, read all sides of the story from several different writers and then put two and two together just to get all the facts.
The one riders recount of the ride that had the problem told me the facts but that was mixed in with stopping hard on the brakes, bump on first drop, Stopped on the midcourse, Three loops and a whole lot of other ironyious info.
And two days later theres still stories of stopping on the course or first drop. I can see being trying to get information and reports early on giving false or missleading statments but two days later?
Common.
Chuck
It's happened before on SOB.. most notably on it's opening weekend.
Many are jumping to the conclusion that it will be torn down. While that may indeed be the decision that is eventually made, the cost of removing the ride far exceeds the cost of fixing it at this point. So I expect the ride will likely remain closed for a significant time period while it's fate is debated.
Shaggy
Shaggy
It's done for the season at the very least.
Chuck
Ok, it's time everyone stops ripping the media. They are regular people, who as in this case were sent to a scene with no information and had to report on it as soon as they got there. They had nothing to go on except what people were telling them
That's true. Generally, they are correct in the details that matter. In this case, the news outlets seem to have gotten the details that matter right. It doesn't matter if there are one loop or three. It does matter if bones are broken on an amusement park ride due to no fault of the riders.
I guess the point of my original post about the state of journalism is this: just because you read it in print, or see it on TV, it doesn't mean it is true. This is increasingly the case, as the number of media outlets have blossomed and they are all competing for your attention. In that world, the first person with the story gets the mindshare---there really isn't time to check all the facts, because then you are an also ran. In addition, there are several outlets that cater to a specific market, just like there are some networks that target a specific demographic: The Economist on one hand, and, say, the New York Times on the other. Because these outlets want to keep selling into their market, they are more likely to print news, analysis, and comment that is of interest to their market.
So, to get a good sense of what is going on in the world, you need to get your news from a variety of sources with diverse viewpoints, and try to evaluate how credible and careful those sources are. I picked the Economist and the Times above because they are generally at opposite ends of the political spectrum editorially, but they both are very careful at getting their facts correct---if the two sources agree on a matter of fact, I'm generally pretty confident that it is correct. The inferences each draws from there are completely different, but that's to be expected.
*** Edited 7/11/2006 1:23:47 PM UTC by Brian Noble***
Geno21K said:
The "official" in this headline refers to the fact that an inspection official made such a statement
Thanks. You have to agree though that the statement is misleading, making their up to now "stellar" reporting skills look even less stellar.
cyberdman
Charles Nungester said:
The news media absolutely needs to be held accountable.
Yes, I agree on that. But what has been said? That there was an accident on the coaster and preliminary findings say that it may have been caused from splintered wood on the tracks, and that several of the riders went to the hospital to get checked out, and two remained over night I think.
The news media reported that. In their reporting they also got some of the details of the coaster incorrect. Two or three loops... or do they mean Helices? etc etc etc. While they have the specs of the coaster wrong, they were reporting the details of the incident and the injuries as correctly as they knew at the time of the report.
They reported the specs of the ride wrong (multiple loops... or perhaps getting loops mixed up with helices)...
They did not report sensational (and grossly untrue)claims like.... Ride colapses! Train Smashes to the Ground! 27 dead, hundreds injured! Sabatoge! Park officials knew of a problem before hand! etc etc etc.
Michael Moore, HALLIBURTON HALLIBURTON ect.
And the difference between Michael "I've-never-met-a-buffet-I-didn't-like" Moore and the journalists covering the accident at PKI... or any true journalist for that matter... is that Journalist's report the news (skewed as they may make it to sell papers, magazines, or get ratings), while Moore just writes fiction.
Had he covered the story, he would have included "Ride Collapses","Train Smashes to the Ground", "27 Dead, hundreds injures", "Sabatoge", "Park officials knew of a problem before hand," (as well as his trademark "It's all Bush's fault!"), knowing full well that those comments were not true... but it was okay, because they simply supported his ideas and points of view.
john peck said:
I would put 3 7-car PTC trains on it
Unless they are custom made PTC trains it's not gonna' happen. As I remember, the guage of the track is too wide for them.
I loved my first ride on SOB during it's opening week, even though I thought I was going to go to the hospital. If you people think it's rough now, there is really no comparison. I was thinking that the washboard at the bottom of the first drop would tear the trains apart.
Slightly o/t, I can vouch for SOB having 3 trains. Opening week only 1 was running and the other 2 were filthy sitting on the transfer tracks. Where the 3rd train went is still a mystery to me.
Just kidding of course. This situation is terrible, and thoughts + prayers to those involved.
The ride is a failure. Taer it down, cut their losses.
-danny *** Edited 7/11/2006 7:40:52 PM UTC by DannyThompson***
If its fiction, It needs to be stated as such and not used as a front organizations battle cry in politics.
Chuck, who says thats way off topic but it relates to getting the facts of what happend before claiming anything in the media.
So I got to the computer and read the story...
I feel bad. :(
As a member of the media, I can tell you that everyone I work with is just trying to do his or her job the best they can. No one is trying to "spin" anything or add "slant" to stories. I don't even agree with the idea that a newspaper can be slanted left or right as a whole, considering a large number of different people work on each story independently.
Yes, there is much work to be done, especially in the area of local TV news. But being a reporter is a lot harder than a lot of other jobs, where you either do things well or you do them poorly. There are a lot of different opinions on what right and wrong even are in regards to the media.
The reporter who wrote the incorrect SoB story probably had 30 minutes to call all the right people, and at the same time was attempting to take calls and write four other stories on deadline. And then they went home and cashed a $600 paycheck for two weeks of work. So give them a freaking break.
But, even the best reporters hold personal opinions, and even when they actively try to be objective and unbiased, word choice, emphasis, etc. reflecting those opinions can often creep into a piece.
Likewise, the editor in chief has a personal opinion, and may well evaluate articles written by those with similar views more favorably than those written by staff with differing views---albeit unintentionally. That plays a role in article placement, promotion, assignment, etc.
Better papers do a better job of managing this inherent conflict of interest, but it's there just the same.
There are some things that appear to be very conscious, however. The Ann Arbor News often reprints select NYTimes articles. Ann Arbor is overwhelmingly left-of-center. We often get reprints of Maureen Dowd's column, and Bob Herbert's column. I can't recall the last time I saw a reprint of a column by Fred Brooks or John Tierney. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, Down and Herbert are left of center, and Brooks/Tierney are to the right of it.
I often, for fun, compare the Ann Arbor News coverage of the same event with that of the Jackson Citizen Patroit, where my Mom lives. Jackson is just one county over from Ann Arbor, but politically is worlds apart. The two papers are owned by the same company, but couldn't be more different in tone. When you set them side-by-side, it's quite obvious. Of course, neither of these are what one might call an example of a "better paper".
Don't get me wrong---I'm perhaps one of the last people on earth that has a subscription to two newspapers. But, that doesn't mean I take everything printed in them as gospel truth.
Local TV news was mentioned. A few weeks ago I remember the top story on a local news report. A motorcyclist was riding home late one night and had a run in with a drooping guide wire on a utility pole. He was knocked off his bike, but got back on and continued on to his work (3rd shift). When he got there, people asked him what happened and pointed out the bad bruise on his neck. He went to the hospital to get checked out. The utility was contacted about the low wire (unknown to them up to this point). They went out and fixed it, and then offered to pay all medical bills of the cyclist. This happened four weeks prior to the news story. The story was that the man had a doctor appointment the next day and would be turning that bill in as well to the utility (which had evidently paid all other med bills with out question). The reporter stated "We'll let you know if the utility honors their promise and pays this unpaid bill or if legal action will be required."
WTF was that all about? (Not too serious) accident occurs. Man goes to hospital. Responsible party (utility) fixes problem that caused the accident. Responsible party pays medical bills of injured man. Reporter then states that Responsible party has not paid yet unsubmitted bill and wonders about legal action. Common sense people.
Local news hit rock bottom a few years ago. I don't know if it was when the prime time "News Updates" became teaser commercials ("We'll tell you what this is and why it is happening at 11..." No, it's a news break... tell me now) or when a dusting to an inch of snow became a "Winter Weather Event".
If you don't like him, you can complain all you want about Rush Limbaugh (equal time... mentioned loonie Moore in the post for the left, had to mention the Conservative Icon for the right), but he said something very true a few years ago during a February broadcast... he was complaining how you turn on TV and all you have is 24 hour coverage of a snow storm that MIGHT hit the east coast. He said... "Yeah, its news... but 24 hour news? It's winter, it's a snow storm, how is that news? If it were July, then yeah, it would be big news... but these things happen in winter!"
Bottom line (and to tie this hopeless wandering thread back to the post)... The sensationalism associated with this serious incident and accident on SOB is bad... but at least the incident / accident is actually news. It's not near as bad as when a wandering local news helicopter on a slow news day happens to fly across a park and sees a train stopped briefly on the lift hill of a coaster (with some sort of loop) just as maintenance is walking up the hill... and the lead story at 11 is "HORROR IN THE PARK. Panic Stricken Riders Trapped on Upside Down Coaster Fear For Their Lives as Rescue Efforts Get Underway."
Oh, and Den, when am I going to get my paper?! ;)
Shaggy said:
Many are jumping to the conclusion that it will be torn down. While that may indeed be the decision that is eventually made, the cost of removing the ride far exceeds the cost of fixing it at this point. So I expect the ride will likely remain closed for a significant time period while it's fate is debated.
This is the most intelligent assessment I've read thus far. I wonder how many of you in the "taer it down" camp have even attempted to consider that the investment involved in actually dismantling/destroying the ride, plus the possibility of decreased attendance by eliminating a "signature" ride, may be greater than the cost of its upkeep? Or are you just voting with your "I rode it, it's rough, it sucks" (or rather, the "someone else rode it, said it was rough, it must suck") mentality?
If you don't think the park's primary concern might just be to get the ride fixed and safely opened as soon as possible, you're fooling yourself pretty hard.
But Paramount isn't calling the shots anymore.
CF is now calling the shots. They have a huge wooden coaster that is rough... that seems to be a maintenance problem and probably has a high maintenance budget just to keep it rideable. Oh, yes... it is also a signature ride. Seems like another park of theirs had similar situation (minus the fact that its "Signature" status dropped years ago... but that can be off set by the fact that none of its wood ever splintered causing a major incident). And look what happened to that wooden monstrosity.
I haven't written my TR yet for PKI, but in it I was going won wonder if SOB (and even possibly The Beast) might not meet the same fate as old Hercules when the bottom line is looked at compared to ridership etc. This was BEFORE the accident. Now I wondering that even more. How long until the "old", rough, more trouble than it is possibly worth, Son of Beast is replaced by some new steel monstrosity (something that PKI is sorely missing) called something like "Beast Tamer" that will be the park's NEW signature coaster under the CF banner?
Chuck, who wishes theyd just fix the damn thing right instead of piecework.
But I suppose that will all change since CF is running the show. Because CF parks are known for letting major attractions sit and collect dust instead of striving to get them all operational. Dorney's tack with Hercules isn't remotely relevant to this discussion so don't kid yourself.
The most intelligent course of action at this point is to figure out what went wrong, fix it, make sure it doesn't happen again, and get it open. Closed rides don't win over the public, no matter how rough this particular one may be.
And if CF ultimately does decide to dismantle it, that's a decision that will be made over time, not because of a single incident. Remember, even if it's only been nine days, SoB has only had one incident under CF leadership. They'll need more than a week to decide the fate of a multi-million dollar ride, particularly since they're not up to speed with PKI's operations.
I think everyone needs to chill out and stop rushing this thing to its grave.
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