Media's whoreiffic reporting on spinach quarantine: unsourced, repetitive, unasked and UNANSWERED questions....

The below dismal AP article on the SHUTDOWN of the entire nation's spinach production and distribution is a textbook example of what we have come to expect from AP and other "news" sources: The QUESTIONS NOT ASKED, and left UNANSWERED, by the story are more important than the tidbits of facts included in the story. AP writer Rachel Konrad seems to be taking a page from the nightly local newscasts, which "TEASE" or advertise a story segment throughout the day in 60 second segments, and then when you finally see the story (after sitting through 15 minutes of commercials in a 30 minute newscast) you learn that it is only a 60 or 120 second production that tells you very little about the subject!

In this case, WHY is the E. coli outbreak and transport quarantine LIMITED ONLY TO SPINACH... do not the farms there sell other types of lettuce and salad greens as well?

- WHY has shipment from ALL spinach producers been banned, when there are many producers not even in the state of California?

- "A strain [of E. coli] that killed 3 people and sickened 200 people nationwide".... COULD YOU POSSIBLY WRITE a LESS informative sentence? HOW did the count of "people killed" go from 1 to 3? In what part of the nation were the fatalities, and why is spinach the culprit in those deaths?

- AND ABOVE ALL, what is the COMPARISON FIGURE for people sickened and killed by eating bacteria infected beef (hamburger) and other meats?

Indeed, some of these questions are asked, or answered, in the Yahoo photo slide show that accompanies the AP article on the web. What is practically HYSTERICAL is how the SAME BLURB accompanies almost EVERY photograph: "3 people killed and 200 sickened by E. coli from spinach" WITH NO OTHER FACTS added for depth or support. It is as if REPETITION is THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in 'the story.'

Some of the photos even show produce personel, warehouses, or federal inspectors walking those warehouses with a caption "The FBI searched two produce companies Wednesday for evidence of a crime in the nationwide E. coli outbreak that killed one person and sickened at least 191 others."

And another photo caption explains that "a toddler" was one of those who died, "infected by the same strain of E. coli that sickened so many others," but NOT telling us if that toddler ate spinach, or if it was raw or cooked.

OUR QUESTION IS, if the ENTIRE national production and distribution of spinach has been SHUT DOWN, then why is it necessary that the public get such SPOTTY DETAILS? Do we even know that it was, indeed, spinach that sickened the victims? Can we not get ANY first-hand stories from ANY such victims?

This article, and the whole spinach embargo issue, looks like another page out of the NEW ORLEANS FLOODING school of media reporting, with the major media then buying the government line that "NOTHING CAN BE DONE!" for flooding victims warehoused in the Superdome emergency shelter, EVEN THOUGH NETWORK NEWS TRUCKS were able to DRIVE UP TO THE SUPERDOME, at a time when refugees there were DYING from lack of water, medications, and other serious problems, UNATTENDED BY BASIC RESCUE WORKERS, much less doctors, health care experts, and government relief agencies. Indeed, just as the New Orleans flooding disaster demonstrated the government's power TO DO NOTHING, the spinach embargo looks like a text-book case of the government going to the OPPOSITE extreme: SHUTTING DOWN THE ENTIRE NATIONAL SUPPLY and distribution of a agricultural product, with VERY LITTLE INFORMATION or accountability... indeed, even throwing out the "investigating a possible CRIME" tagline to emphasize government search, seizure, condemnation, and possible prosecution powers.

Mr. Konrad, Mr. Bridges, Ms. Leff- you SHOULD BE ASHAMED to attach your name to such an UNINFORMATIVE, UNSOURCED story... much less a tag-team of THREE 'reporters" claiming 'credit' for a story that merely repeats the "3 killed, hundreds sickened" mantra, WITHOUT ANY DOCUMENTATION or specific backup facts, besides a couple of generic comments by fed. and state health officials! And the PHOTO CAPTIONS are MORE informative than the story!

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<< Associated Press writers [Rachel Konrad] Andrew Bridges in Washington and Lisa Leff in San Francisco contributed to this report. >> ['report' ??]

<< The exterior of the Growers Express plant is seen in Salinas, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006. The FBI searched two produce companies Wednesday FOR EVIDENCE OF A CRIME in the nationwide E. coli outbreak that killed one person and sickened at least 191 others. Agents from the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration used warrants to search a Natural Selection Foods LLC plant in San Juan Bautista and a Growers Express plant in Salinas to determine whether they followed food safety procedures. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) >>

Yahoo photo slide show "E coli. outbreak"-
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/hl/091506ecoli;_ylt=Ao9JVDLlri8Qka4.GgY9OAta24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGk2OHYzBHNlYwN0bXA-

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FDA: No spinach farm 'off the hook' yet
By RACHEL KONRAD, Associated Press Writer
Fri Oct 13, 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061013/ap_on_he_me/tainted_spinach

SALINAS, Calif. - Local spinach farmers and processors expressed relief upon learning that the search for the source of a deadly E. coli outbreak has been linked to a nearby cattle ranch, but health officials cautioned that their investigation was far from over.

Inspectors confirmed Thursday that the same bacteria strain that killed three people and sickened nearly 200 nationwide was found at a Salinas Valley cattle ranch within a mile of spinach fields.
Officials still can't be sure if the E. coli found in cow manure contaminated the fields, but called the match an important finding.
"We do not have a smoking cow at this point," said Dr. Kevin Reilly, deputy director of the Prevention Services Division of the California Department of Health Services.
Meanwhile, the company that processed and packaged the tainted spinach viewed the finding as vindication after repeatedly asserting its factories are clean.
"This definitely reinforces our belief that the source was environmental," said Samantha Cabaluna, a spokeswoman for Natural Selection Foods LLC.
Other Salinas Valley farmers and processors also saw the link to a single ranch as a significant step toward restoring public confidence in a region known as the "Salad Bowl to the World."

"This is exactly what we hoped, that they could narrow their focus and come back with conclusions, conclusions on how the product got contaminated so we can learn as much as we can from this particular situation and enhance or improve or change our practices accordingly," said Joseph Pezzini, vice president of operations for Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville.
The strain of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 was found in three cattle fecal samples collected at the ranch, one of four under investigation, officials said. It matched the strain found in sick patients and in bags of recalled spinach.
Investigators continue to look at agricultural runoff, irrigation water and the hygiene of farm workers as possible sources of the bacteria.

"It's our expectation that no farm should feel they are off the hook," said Dr. Robert Brackett, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Investigators still do not know how the feces could have contaminated the spinach implicated in the bacterial outbreak. They also do not know if the ranch used manure from the cattle to fertilize its fields. Nor is there evidence that livestock entered the spinach fields on the ranch. However, wild pigs roamed the property, they said.

"There's lots of wildlife and lots of potential for breakdown in the fencing," Reilly said.
The recent outbreak of E. coli in spinach was the 20th such outbreak in lettuce or spinach since 1995. The finding marks the first time that investigators have identified a possible source for an E. coli outbreak in the region, Reilly said.

Despite progress in the investigation, the spinach scare is likely to permanently change the area's fresh produce industry, said Woody Johnson, vice president of Growers Express LLC, which packages greens under brands such as Green Giant Fresh.

"No matter how isolated the strain, this has raised the bar for everyone in the industry in terms of inspection and prevention," he said. "We need to do whatever we have to do to restore consumers' confidence."

Associated Press writers Andrew Bridges in Washington and Lisa Leff in San Francisco contributed to this report.