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Is ABC News Fear Mongering or Incompetent?

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posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 09:36 PM
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My son was channel surfing tonight (8/16/11) and left the ABC News with Diane Sawyer on briefly. I saw, from beginning to end, a report they did on "flash mob/robs." I paid attention, primarily because I am very interested in how the MSM may play into stoking the fears of the sheeple about the role of social media in these crimes - in my humble opinion the next step in quashing civil liberties.

Towards the end of the report, I could not believe what they reported.

According to their report:


"These incidents can turn violent, they can injure customers, they can damage the store and then there's the financial losses the retailers suffer," said Joe La Rocca, spokesperson for the National Retail Federation. The NRF estimates that about one in ten stores has been the victim of a of a flash mob invastion and robbery.


In the video clip, you'll hear the reporter claim that the NRF reports that one in ten stores in the country have been a flash mob victim.

That statistic seems absolutely ridiculous. One in ten? So I wanted to throw up a thread about it, to see if other ATS members agreed with me. In about two minutes of research, I pulled up the actual information directly from the NRF. This is what I found:


In July 2011, NRF polled retailers around the country to gauge the impact of multiple offender crimes. Over three-quarters (79%) of retailers report being a victim of a multiple offender crime in the past 12 months, some of these incidents (10%) involving flash mob tactics. No doubt, the trend is growing quite quickly.


So to recap, 79% of retailers (many conglomerates) have reported at least one multi-perpetrator crime. And of those crimes, one in ten had "flash mob tactics."

Wow. I know my ATS moniker says writer - but let me be clear. I have no formal journalism training. I'm not even that good at computer research. And in two minutes, in order not to mislead my fellow ATS members, I found a completely unbelievable statistic reported by a national MSM outlet to be exactly that: untrue and unbelievable.

I know few may be surprised, but this seems like either incomprehensible negligence or outright fear mongering laying the groundwork for internet and social media limitations.


What do y'all think?

Both the video clip and written story appear here: (sorry I'm too inept to embed video)
abcnews.go.com...

The National Retail Federation (NRF) report information:
www.nrf.com...
edit on 8/16/2011 by Open2Truth because: punctuation

edit on 8/16/2011 by Open2Truth because: clarity

edit on 8/16/2011 by Open2Truth because: clarity

edit on 8/16/2011 by Open2Truth because: correction



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 09:44 PM
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reply to post by Open2Truth
 


LOL!

I'd say 1 in 10 stores have been victimized by "multiple assailant robberies," that is a very common meme in shoplifting. It has been going on for decades, probably centuries!

"Flash Mobs" are a different story. Those have only come on the scene in the last couple of years with social media. I would be surprised if 1 in 10,000 stores have ever seen a flash mob!

As usual, it is just the media over-dramatizing an issue for ratings.



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 09:47 PM
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reply to post by Open2Truth
 

I'd have to say you called this one dead on. 1 in 10 retailers vs 10% of incidents reported are worlds apart for numbers, but hey...why let facts get in the way of the fear agenda? It gets ratings and it sells papers these days.

Great catch.



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 09:54 PM
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reply to post by Open2Truth
 


I'm not sure I see your reasoning.

79% of retailers have had multiple offender attacks. 10% fo those would be 8, or almost one in 10.

Would you feel less outrage if the reporter said one in 12?

And for MSM it would be no big deal to turn 1 in 12 to "about 1 in 10."

Please explain what I'm missing here.

jw



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 09:54 PM
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I have noticed ABCnews putting obvious fear into people. All the time. I used to be oblivious to it, but when I watched the reporting for the tsunami in Japan, I couldn't help but notice the dramatic music behind it. It sounded like Hollywood cinematic music piece. Something that would be in a disaster or apocalyptic movie.

I just kept thinking, "This isn't a movie, it's reality. They put those cinematic pieces in there TO SCARE people to begin with".



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:02 PM
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reply to post by jdub297
 

Watch the end of the video and you'll see. The reporter says that the National Retail Federation estimates that one in ten stores have been the victim of a flash mob.

The NRF report says that one in ten of multi-perpetrator crimes is a "flash mob." Not one in ten retail store locations being robbed by a flash mob.


edit on 8/16/2011 by Open2Truth because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:16 PM
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More to the point; what is right about flash mobs robbing stores? You for or against that?



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:22 PM
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reply to post by Blaine91555
 


Absolutely against. But very concerned that the communication freedoms being utilized by these 21st century thugs will be blamed, and taken away from us all.

I saw the thread more concerned with how the media is portraying the situation to the sheeples - I actually think focusing on the social media methodology behind these crimes, especially when completely misrepresenting their current numbers in the US is quite an effective way to scare the masses - especially the older generations who don't consider themselves technologically savvy.

edit on 8/16/2011 by Open2Truth because: punctuation

edit on 8/16/2011 by Open2Truth because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:24 PM
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These news shows have been off target for a very long time. What's the point in watching them if you have to spend further time researching on your own to verify their information is correct.

Plus their anchors are way overpaid for the job they do.



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:28 PM
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reply to post by Open2Truth
 



The NRF report says that one in ten of multi-perpetrator crimes is a "flash mob." Not one in ten retail store locations being robbed by a flash mob.


Right. They also say 79% of retail store crimes are multi-perpetrator.

Foolow me here:

79% = .79
10% = .10

.79 X .1 = .079 (call it .08)

.08 = 8%

8% is about 1 in 12.

Why couldn't an MSM exploitation piece be expected to round-up 1 in 12 to "about 1 in 10?"

What did I miss, please?

jw



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:28 PM
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reply to post by Open2Truth
 




... this seems like either incomprehensible negligence or outright fear mongering laying the groundwork for internet and social media limitations.


Both. I've noted the same behavior and thought the same thing. There appears to be a very clear effort to instill fear into the population and then too, identify any gathering of people as a potential 'flash mob' and as such, have someone call the cops.

It's horrible, despicable and completely contrary to everything we know of our constitution. But... there's really no other excuse for it.

S&F for speaking out on this neglected subject



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:29 PM
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reply to post by kro32
 


Doing what job?

You mean looking nice with sinewy legs and short skirts while reading a teleprompter?

Ahhh, I guess you're right, I can get that a lot cheaper, and probably with more fact, and definitely a bigger finish.



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:31 PM
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reply to post by jdub297
 


Watch the video. The reporter says that "one in ten store locations have been the victim of a flash mob."

I don't know how much clearer to be. If you watch the video, and still feel it was accurate, than we can agree to disagree. But I would be really surprised.



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:31 PM
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reply to post by jdub297
 


You missed all the stores that did not have crimes. 79% of the crimes committed are multi-perpetrator, but what about all the stores that didn't report crimes?

And, even with their numbers, there is no way 10% of the multi-perpetrator crimes are done by flashmobs. I have not heard of a single flashmob in any of my surrounding communities. There are plenty of multi-perpetrator shoplifting crimes, but not a single flashmob.

Not 10%, not 1%, not even 1.



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:46 PM
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I believe I've found some interesing information in the link posted by the OP. It was part of the .pdf file which showed the actual report everyone is referring to.


In July 2011, NRF polled retailers around the country to gauge the impact of multiple offender crimes. Ten percent of the 106 companies polled reported being victimized by multiple offender criminals who used flash mob tactics in the past 12 months. Half of these companies have experienced two to five incidents in the same period.


The report also makes clear that the NRF describes "multiple offender crimes" as those in which the thieves knew each other before they assembled and that "flash mobs" were created on the spot. There is no difference between them when they enter the store.

It looks like the 10% figure is not too bad, although I would like to see whether the affected sites were companies or individual stores. Either way, it's a bunch.



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 10:51 PM
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Originally posted by jdub297
reply to post by Open2Truth
 



The NRF report says that one in ten of multi-perpetrator crimes is a "flash mob." Not one in ten retail store locations being robbed by a flash mob.


Right. They also say 79% of retail store crimes are multi-perpetrator.

Foolow me here:

79% = .79
10% = .10

.79 X .1 = .079 (call it .08)

.08 = 8%

8% is about 1 in 12.

Why couldn't an MSM exploitation piece be expected to round-up 1 in 12 to "about 1 in 10?"

What did I miss, please?

jw




I think what the OP is getting at is that the report seemed to imply that 10% of all stores across the country had been a victim of this form of the crime whereas it was 10% of the 79% (7.9%) of the selected group of stores they polled. They could have been taking the poll at stores in well known crime hot-spots or stores that are particularly prone to crimes like these.

At least I think that's what the OP means.
edit on 16/8/11 by Morgil because: grammar



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 11:00 PM
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reply to post by Morgil
 


You are correct - thank you for the help in clarifying.

Part of the challenge is in the difference between the spoken report and a written summary. In the actual live in person report, the reporter says that the NRF has estimated that 10% of stores (presumably in the country) have been the victim of a flash mob. The statistic is so incredulous that Sawyer even exclaims "10% - really?"



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 11:02 PM
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What is not being said is that most of these incidents if not all are minority's and other disenfranchised youth.

Unemployment is very high in that demographic for young people.

I doubt seriously if this is taking place in small town America.

As for the MSM they are all fear-mongers. It is owned and controlled by very wealthy people,their media stars are rich just for their ability to read and look pretty.

They do not live in the same world as we do.

I am surprised anyone even watches them anymore but I know there is a large population of stupid ignorant people out there.

Diane Sawyer is as dumb as a box of rocks.

I watched her have an interview once with Steven Hawkings.

Since he has not spoken in years they submitted a list of questions to Hawkins handlers a month in advanced.

Hawkins(or someone) patiently typed out his response in to that computer he supposedly painstaking types each letter in to with his eye movements .

When they taped it, they showed Sawyer sitting there asking the question and Hawkings sitting in his wheelchair motionless while the computer voice answered the question.

Funniest most hokey interview I ever watched.

Stupid broad was carrying on a conversation with a computer.
edit on 16-8-2011 by IamJustanAmerican because: (no reason given)

edit on 16-8-2011 by IamJustanAmerican because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 11:05 PM
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atleast abc news reports on ufo's sometimes



posted on Aug, 16 2011 @ 11:23 PM
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jdub297 is absolutely correct!

There is nothing to think about, and the math is done. His solution of 8% is close enough to the true value of 7.9% for me to call correct. That's only a 2.1% error by ABC.

Perhaps the reporter should have said, "Approximately one in ten, or almost 10% of retail stores are affected by flash mobs". That would have been an accurate statement!

I feel the OP, and many of you, are more in err than ABC was.

See ya,
Milt
edit on 16-8-2011 by BenReclused because: Spelling



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