Spiegel in the mirror
: There has been much comment about Der Spiegel in the post about 9/11 deniers below. The latest said I should retract what I said. Well, I’ll go part way, but not all the way.
I did not make it clear enough that Spiegel was pooh-poohing the veracity of these deniers and their 9/11 conspiracy theories. My bad translation. My bad. I rushed past the point and now see that because readers could not read the story, I should have translated a few excerpts to make it clear that Spiegel was trying to distance itself from these crockpot theories.
But I still stand by my essential point: I find the news judgment of putting these crackpots on the cover — with or without pooh-poohing — to be not only questionable but objectionable; they simply do not deserve the attention. I find it likely that this is a cynical act — by adding the pooh-pooh, they could still give these bozos and what they say publicity and play to the worst imaginings of their audience; it’s cynical pandering. And I find the timing — right before the anniversary — to be particularly abhorent.
Now maybe I’m wrong and it’s hard to say whether I am because this is about Spiegel’s motive, which can only be ascribed. But I still doubt it.
It’s my conspiracy theory about conspiracy theories.
