The newest revelations about the circumstances surrounding Pat Tillman's death are horrifying enough to merit widespread media coverage. But rather than rehashing the details, I think it's instructive to watch two very different broadcasts, ironically, by two stations with the same parent company:
Here's Jim Miklaszweski on Friday's NBC Nightly News:
Download QT later...
Now to be fair, that's an fair and accurate reporting of facts. However, what Miklaszewski fails to do is to connect the dots or provide any context. Compare it to this report (using the same footage and in fact, citing Miklaszewski's report) on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann with Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org:
Download Which reporting made you feel like you understood the situation better?
UPDATE: Apparently, both MSNBC & NBC operated from AP's report of Tillman berating a soldier in the last moments before his death, based on a second-hand account given by a chaplain who debriefed the unit after the incident. According to MSNBC yesterday, the soldier involved said it didn't quite happen that way. Maybe it's me, but don't you think that AP might have wanted to confirm the events with someone who was, say, there before running the story and painting Tillman as an angry and dismissive atheist fragged by his fellow troops?
