What You Get May Not Be What You Want

So, "gang initiation is calling for shooting 3 women shoppers at Wal-mart." The phone is ringing off the hook around here. Reporters are being questioned at every story they cover. Abilene Police hold a news conference. People are really worried.
But its all a HOAX!! A message that was first sent more than a year ago by e-mail, is being recycled now by text message. And it is spreading coast to coast. It is not just in Abilene, Brownwood, or Sweetwater where there are Wal-marts in the Big Country. It is wherever there is a Wal-mart.
In these days of violent gangs and terrorists, I understand the concern. But this message shows the skeptical eye which we have to use in this day of instant communication. Just because it is on the Internet or on your cell phone, doesn't make it real. Anyone can put anything out there and you have to be able to sift thru what you get to figure out what you may not want.....like a bunch of malarkey which is being used to hold us in terror.
That's why we're here. We can be had, just like anyone else. But generally, a news operation like KTAB has enough contacts to find out the story behind the story. We try to live up to "Coverage You Can Count On" everyday, on every story. (We mentioned Wal-mart threat was a hoax when we started getting calls Wednesday night.)
And something else worries me....postings on Facebook and myspace. But I'll get to that next time.