Reply #37: Excellent post as usual TFC.

[Dr.Phool]

You're a must read, in the present environment around here any more.

In discussions and arguments, I always stress the accuracy and reliability of the source. What is their track record? Do they do their homework? Do they admit it, when something is wrong.

Journalists, like Seymour Hersh are almost extinct. He always has the stories that make TPTB nervous and uncomfortable. And he's always right. Another is Bill Moyers. Amy Goodman toils in an obscure media outlet, but she's not afraid to get her hands dirty, getting to the truth. If one of those three tell me something, I can pretty much take it to the bank, based on their past record of accuracy.

I think the vast majority of the public confuses opinion with fact. When a Thomas Friedman or a David Brooks,or a George Will spout a bunch of opinion, and distort the facts to square with that opinion, it's not news. It's opinion. Like assholes, everybody has them, but they don't carry equal weight. Some are based on, and supported by facts. Most are not.

And the appeal to authority weighs in also. Sure, Friedman, Will, and Brooks are published by major outlets. So was Bill Kristol. And, they were all usually off base. Kristol has been in the wrong stadium for his entire career.

Another example is the St. Pete Times. They're regarded as one of the best newspapers in America. Based on personal experience with them, I know that they can be as full of shit as the Washington Times.

A poster above, mentioned John Russell. In the 2006 campaign for Congress, they had assigned a right-wing hack to cover the race. She wrote a story that was right out of a Fox News fantasy. They slandered John Russell, making him appear crazier than Michelle Bachman on PCP. All based on a story made up by a county Republican Party chair. The events in question never happened. I had first hand information. I was standing next to John all night!

A couple of days later, they did print something a little different, but nothing near a retraction or an apology. That reporter is long gone, but they didn't improve on their standard of accuracy. Two years later, during the 2008 campaign, they rehashed the story, almost verbatim.

Not to mention their misleading coverage of the Florida delegate fiasco, and an attempted coup in the FDP.

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Orwell is alive in our media, and our government. Accuracy in our sources is vital, if we're ever going to take back our government from the Corporatist s who run it now.