Mercy killings in NOLA, or just the Daily Terror?

[lederhosen]

The Daily Telegraph is running a story that claims "senior doctors took the harrowing decision to give massive overdoses of morphine to those they believed could not make it out alive".

However, I can't find this story anywhere else, and the 'Terror' doesn't usually get scoops on non-Australian stories; foreign reporting isn't their strength. AFAICT, most New Ltd. papers here just reheat material cribbed from their US counterparts. When one of them *does* get a 'world exclusive', it's often something like this story, which the Herald Sun swallowed hook, line, and sinker on the basis of its appearance on a website somewhere; having been published in something approximating a newspaper, it then became Unquestioned Truth to all who wanted to believe.

So, if this one begins to circulate in the US, check whether it's been confirmed by sources more reputable than the Tele. (BTW, their only named source does seem to be a real person, but whether he said the things attributed to him and whether they're true is another question. It also seems kinda odd to me that if the British media were *already* looking for him, they wouldn't have picked up on his story once he showed up.)

Comments

[luckybunny007.livejournal.com]

When you say "sources more reputable than the Tele," do you mean more reputable than the telly telly, or the Tele Telegraph? In the Murdochian morass of 21st century British journalism, the Torygraph stands out as being pretty reputable on its own.

[luckybunny007.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm confused. I thought from your comment about the British media that you meant that Telegraph, but you meant the other Telegraph. Not that one.

Carry on.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear there - I meant the local Daily Telegraph, not the British one. The 'British media' comment was in reference to a linked BBC story about the same William McQueen the Tele is claiming as their source.

The Daily Telegraph here is a News Corp. tabloid, biggest circulation in Sydney but not really renowned for quality journalism.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

And now I look, the story has shown up in the UK's Daily Mail and Mirror; our Tele might have got it from the Mail, who seem to be claiming their journalist got the story. Those sites hadn't hit Google when I checked yesterday; how reliable is the Mail?

[luckybunny007.livejournal.com]

It's by no means the worst organ, but I'd hesitate to let it feed my pets if I was on vacation.