Slum Lord Journalists
I like this observation by Ed Driscoll:
The legacy media has long since prided itself on being the “first draft of history”. Every writer knows his first draft is almost invariably his worst, and polishes repeatedly. But normally, mostly for style; presumably the facts are correct before the writing begins. How will the second, third and tenth drafts of history look, when its foundation was built so poorly to begin with?
Consider also that the MSM’s “first draft” is what tends to stick in people’s minds for a long time. A front-page story that turns out to be bunk usually isn’t corrected with the same level of attention and fanfare it gets when it’s published.
The Valerie Plame “outing” story is a perfect example. The MSM claimed that the Bush administration was responsible for “outing” her as revenge for her husband’s decisive debunking of the famous “16 words” claim. In truth, the person who “outed” her was really a foe of the President, the right-hand man to the contentious Secretary of State, and Joseph Wilson’s trip to Africa actually slightly bolstered the “16 words”.
Neither of those facts were as widely or as loudly reported as the initial story and so most folks have no idea that what they were told by the MSM was wrong. What’s worse, the MSM is in no hurry to correct themselves. Like a Chicago slum lord, they’re far too busy throwing up the journalistic equivalent of flimsy shanties instead of carefully constructing solid edificies of stone and steel that will hold up to years of use. Is it any wonder that so many Americans hold professional journalists in such low regard?
Other Posts of Interest:
- The Non-Skeptical Journalist
- I Think They Might Need to Review What the Word “Protect” Means
- Who Checks the Checkers?
Category: Oh, THAT liberal media.
