'We Lie. We Decide.' (Media failure to vet SBVL)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040920&s=alterman

<snip>

Take a look at the exchange above and see if you can figure out what the hell is going on. Tim Russert is questioning John Kerry about his 1971 Senate testimony, in which Kerry recounted testimony he had heard of war crimes committed in Vietnam by US troops at the so-called Winter Soldier Investigation in January/February of that year. The fact that such crimes were committed by US troops is indisputable. My Lai happened. The Toledo Blade ran a Pulitzer Prize-winning exposé of the "Tiger Force" murders just days before Russert asked his question. As even Gen. Tommy Franks told an unhappy Sean Hannity, the "things Kerry said are undeniable." Indeed, Russert's question itself admitted this. For if only "a lot" of the atrocity stories were discredited, according to Russert, then at least some of them must be true. The entire exchange is therefore purposely pointless--both gratuitous and nonsensical--except as a means to try to embarrass Kerry for having had the courage to testify to uncomfortable truth more than thirty years earlier.

The exchange flashed again into my mind as I read that Russert--who, lest we forget, is one of the two or three most influential and respected journalists on network television--had reportedly told viewers that the dishonest and morally disgusting Swift Boat Veterans for Truth advertisements that have now been fully discredited had "scored a direct hit on one of the main bases for the Kerry campaign, his war record." It did not matter to this grand pooh-bah of the punditocracy that the ads were pure mendacity from start to finish. What mattered is that they were "effective." But why were they effective? Because Russert and his colleagues had not the wherewithal to point out that they were lies. "We are not judging the credibility of Kerry or the Veterans, we just print the facts," Washington Post executive editor Len Downie explains.

[acmavm]

1. They didn't want to point out that they were lies. They fit right in with

their support of the busholini regime.

[wtmusic]

2. Fox News proved that "patriotism" was profitable

and the others fall in line

[DieboldMustDie]

3. I heard Ted Koppel a few nights ago explaining the difference...

between "fact" and "truth." You see, if someone makes an allegation, however absurd, that he made the allegation is a fact and may be reported as a fact. Whether there is any truth to the allegation is a separate matter. Really! I'm not kidding; Koppel actually said this. And to think he used to be a journalist. :puke:

[Insomnicole]

5. Unbelievable.

And then this guy has the gall to badger Jon Stewart about why so many people watch "The Daily Show" for its news coverage? Gee, Ted -- maybe it's because Stewart's one of the few newspeople left in America who's not afraid to call BS when he sees it.

[Ganja Ninja]

7. Oh if only someone that owns/runs a major network would realize ...

there's a market for a no BS news channel.

[BootinUp]

4. Good article - thanks for the post n/t

[Jack Rabbit]

6. I have a small bone to pick with Mr. Alterman

I have a small bone to pick with Mr. Alterman and others who damn the corporate media for their pro-Republican spin. It's not that there's anything wrong with pointing out that broadcast journalism over the last quarter century has been biased to the GOP (it has) and even that this goes beyond the pale of ethical journalism (it does). Alterman cites this phenomenon in this short piece and he is right to do so.

However, Alterman omits blaming the audience. If I were a journalist, I would have some trouble thinking that any reasonable person would take the SBVT seriously. At first, I would probably file a report that simply states that a pro-Bush organization with backing from some of Mr. Bush's wealthy friends has purchased air time in swing states to run ads that charge that Senator Kerry won his medals for valor fraudulently. It might not occur to me that anybody who isn't already a right wing moron would actually believe that crap.

The broadcast journalists do need to put out more facts. They don't need to come right out and say, "The SBVT are a bunch of right wing liars," (or, if that sounds like too much editorializing, they can weasel their way around it with "Some people say that the SBVT are a bunch of right wing liars"). They do, however, need to point out that there is a procedure for awarding combat medals and that, from the best we can tell, the procedure was followed when awarding Lt. Kerry three purple hearts, a silver star and a bronze star; that the SBVT is heavily financed by Mr. Bush's very good friends; that John O'Neill has been a Kerry nemesis for decades and only now impugns Kerry's valor; that in addition to presenting other witnesses who contradict the claims of the SBVT and support the official version of events that day.

However, it would also seem that just on the face of it more people should be skeptical of the claims of Mr. O'Neill and his minions.