After Bright Bart was confronted with photos of signs at tea party rallies that indicated that racism was alive and well at those events, didn't he just ignore reality and second the Aimee Semple McPherson attitude: "That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!"?
Was the "honest mistake" attitude provided for Bright Boy, also extended to Dan Rather when he fell victim to some planted false evidence regarding George W. Bush's National Air Guard attendance record, which indicated that the (then) President had been a deserter?
Failure to adhere to reality is fine for writers who hope to emulate Hans Christian Andersen or to produce something that would delight the Brothers Grimm, but when it comes to a standard for reporters why has America suddenly given a pass to Fox and let reality become gelatinous? Oh, wait! Mike Malloy pointed out that Fox has established a legal precedent proclaiming that Fox News has a (God given?) right to lie. It seem, after refreshing our memory with a skim of the Swanberg book, that even William Randolph Hearst would want to debate Rupert Murdock on that point.
Does that mean that if Fox News reports a sudden "groundswell" of approval for Jeb Bush, that it doesn't have to be true?
Wow! It seems that Fox has made a newscast into a "play along at home" version of the shell game. It is up to viewers to ascertain which statements are facts and which are lies. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of a newscast?
When a manager asked permission to fire the Examiner's Managing Editor, Samuel S. Chamberlain, Hearst replied: "If he is sober one day in thirty that is all I require." (Ibid page 77.) Is it too much to ask Fox News to be unbiased for one day in thirty?
Now the disk jockey will play "Dark Side of the Moon," the Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," and the "Mickey Mouse Club" theme song. We have to go see if the Berkeley Public Library Bookstore has a bargain copy of Budd Schulberg's "What Makes Sammy Run?" Have an "if I saw it on TV; it must be true" type week.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
