James L'Angelle
Univ of Nevada. Reno
Dr. Paromita Pain
01 July 2019
Sweeping across the border earlier today, a breaking story has hit the internet like a dust storm. Based on just one report by AC Thompson, of the independent news agency ProPublica, the story has already been picked up, not completely verified, by most of the major news media and the gossip mongers as well. How accurate is the report?
There doesn't appear to be any confirmation from Facebook of the secret group, there is yet to be any quantifiable evaluation of just how many CBP personnel are involved, there doesn't seem to be any concern at all for the facts, just take "ProPublica" report at face value. Certainly it's the way journalism is done today and if it will help drive the mindless gossip mongering goons over to the breaking news pages loaded with targeted ads, so much the better.
It isn't about the story at all any more. It's all about getting eyeballs attached to the page, clickbait, pure and simple, at the expense first of the border agents entrusted to the security of the borders, but also the immigrants who are grossly misaligned by, and for whatever reason, whether the story is newsworthy in the first place. As for any type of verification at all, here is what the Thompson report looks like at Huff Post;
"ProPublica contacted three spokespeople for CBP in regard to the Facebook group and provided the names of three agents who appear to have participated in the online chats. CBP hasn’t yet responded." (Thompson, HuffPost)
Clearly it was a matter of deadlines that prompted ProPublica to print the story without any verification from either Facebook or the CBP agency. There has yet to be any formal statement released from Facebook regarding the alleged secret group, even though the news has been out for at least 12 hours. As for ProPublica itself, the whois information on the organization is scant noting only its registrar as register.com. (ip-tracker.org)
The Customs and Border Protection Agency has made comments about the alleged activity on its Twitter site, apparently without any evidence from a preliminary internal investigation as to the veracity of the claim from the online news publication;
"Today, CBP was made aware of disturbing social media activity hosted on a private Facebook group that may include a number of CBP employees. CBP immediately informed DHS Office of the Inspector General and initiated an investigation. " (CBP, Twitter)
The agency has taken for face value the word of some dubious news site on the internet for some unverified story, not by a reliable, well established news organization such as what is known as "mainstream media" and all but confirmed it. It is exactly this sort of acceptance of information that is at the heart of why the internet has become the scourge of journalism.
Thompson's explanation of how he received information about the secret group is documented in his report;
"ProPublica received images of several recent discussions in the 10-15 Facebook group and was able to link the participants in those online conversations to apparently legitimate Facebook profiles belonging to Border Patrol agents,: (Thompson, ProPublica)
He goes on to say that the link was made to their profiles. Indeed, in a time when everyone and anyone can have their profiles stolen and recreated, Thompson drew an immediate conclusion without contacting those whose profiles are in question and admits he has been unable to reach them. Instead he fluffs up the article by quoting a U of Arizona sociologist completely ignorant of the story.
ProPublica, a hodgepodge of ex-mainstream journalists and venture capitalist directors, showing little or no scruples at all for publishing the article without at first consulting with the official border patrol agency, has not only undermined trust and security of agency personnel, but has betrayed public trust in media and social media as well. It has no sensitivity at all in the face of such a revealing expose and ought to be shamed itself for its display of no class. One might expect that the usual suspects like HuffPost would immediately grab on to the news, real or false, in order to promote its own feeble online agenda. The rest followed suit as expected.
Works Cited
Thompson, AC, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/inside-the-secret-border-patrol-facebook-group-where-agents-joke-about-migrant-deaths-and-post-sexist-memes_n_5d1a424ee4b082e5536da6bf
CBP-Twitter, https://twitter.com/CBP
Thompson, AC, ProPublica,
ProPublica, https://www.ip-trahttps://www.propublica.org/article/secret-border-patrol-facebook-group-agents-joke-about-migrant-deaths-post-sexist-memescker.org/lookup/whois-lookup.php?query=Propublica.org
Cowboy Image, https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/slide-show/photos/2018-Sep/USBP-Horse-Patrol-Unit-Carousel.png