25160: Walton (Comment) RE: 25149: Fwd: Du Tuyau: (point of view and po int of think) Re: Simidor; La Scierie massacre article, posted on 5/19/05 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "Walton, Robert" <robert.walton3@us.army.mil>

Re: "6- The militants are demanding that Neptune and Privert be charged and
convicted, even though they offer scant evidence directly linking the two
former officials to the killings."

The phrase,"they offer scant evidence" is the JOURNALIST'S OPINION on the
quality of evidence, not necessarily the court's.

Be careful in reading news articles- look for opinions stated as facts.
Look for "attribution," i.e. who said what!

News articles should state facts.  When they contain unattributed opinions
(especially those of the writer) they become opinion pieces or editorials
masquerading as news. (Journalism 101)

It may well be that "scant evidence" is sufficiently compelling to make the
case- we'll never know from the article that was quoted.

Bob Walton
waltonr@hotmail.com