So, this blog is less than a blog but more than a small collection of weevils in a barrel. Essentially what was originally intended to be a place to post photos of vacations and cute travel anecdotes is going to become a fertile field of political discourse, rabid rantings and recipe sharing. Primarily because I realized that even my family couldn’t care less about my pictures and I have no friends. Anyway, on to the serious business.
To whit. I was reading a blog post from Jay Rosen about fact-checking by current media. Or rather the lack-of. This applies primarily to American television, and in the spirit of disclosure I have to admit to not being either a citizen or resident of the U.S. I am currently a Canadian, one of those many unfortunates huddled up against the U.S. border, sheltering in its warmth and security. However, this certainly doesn’t disqualify me from commenting on current affairs as they relate to American media or politics. In fact after hockey and dog-sledding, American politics is Canada’s #1 spectator sport. We love you long time!
So, fact-checking. It’s a process whereby a host, journalist or grandmother in Iowa ensures that the things being said on their T.V. show/Newspaper/Bible Newsletter, are, in fact, true. Surprisingly, this is happening less and less in modern media organizations. Certainly I think the New York Times, the BBC, Le Monde and other top notch news organizations are still rigorous in their process. But as we’ve seen with the influx of Opiniontorial (my new word, hush) programs on networks like CNN, MSNBC and FOX News, things get pretty shady when shows designed to generate profits are promoted and published on a network whose primary purpose is supposed to be, well, news. Without putting too fine a point on it, and it’s been better articulated elsewhere, things have changed. News is no longer hard to come by. Getting the basic facts surrounding day to day to events occurring globally is now easier than it’s ever been. We, as consumers of information, no longer have to wait for the radio, or the newspaper, or indeed the television to inform us of major current events. And this has caused no small amount of concern in people who make gobs of money running radio stations, newspapers and television networks.
I won’t go into why I think that public funded news has weathered this storm better than private (see the BBC, the ABC in Australia and to a lesser extent the CBC in Canada) suffice it to say that when profit is the primary motive behind news, weird shit happens.
Case in point. After the Obama inauguration FOX ‘NEWS’ went in to absolute overdrive. Their uber-conservative commentators brandished the flaming hammer of God in defence of the American Constitution, Mom, Apple Pie and Guns against the marauding hordes of Liberal Communists running amok in Congress and the Executive. But that’s not NEWS. That’s Op/Ed. A distinction FOX has been loathe to make because it’s entire reason to exist is to confirm the world-view of its viewers, not disseminate the facts concerning current events.
So. Fact-checking. That was the point here, keep up. It’s not happening, and it’s not just the obviously biased organizations like FOX NEWS that are shirking on this most basic of journalistic responsibilities. It’s everyone. The race is to get the most controversial, most sound-bite worthy story and if a few details get mangled in the process, well, what’s the harm?
Lets look at a rather small example, courtesy of the great state of Minnesota’s representative, Michelle Bachman (R-MN). She said on CNN recently:
“The story in our country has been the federal government takeover of private industry. The federal government literally, in 18 months’ time, has taken either direct ownership or control of 51 percent of the private economy. Eighteen months ago, 100 percent of the private economy was private. But today, the federal government literally owns banks., the largest insurance company in the United States. The federal government owns over half of all home mortgages today in the United States — Chrysler, G.M. the student loan industry and now health care.”
The problem with the above quote is that it’s blatantly, provably, false. And given that she uses the word “literally” there’s no chance she was speaking allegorically or, “figuratively”. Her facts are completely false. Blatantly. Currently the U.S. Government has direct control of about 29% of the GDP. The largest percentage in history occurred during WWII and was around 47%. The lowest was during the build-up to the Great Depression in 1929 at approximately 9%. So how does Mrs. Bachmann get 51%? Well, she makes shit up. The U.S. Gov’t has taken stakes in some private enterprises as part of the recession plan – of course this happened under the previous Republican administration – but they certainly haven’t managed to steal 51% of the free markets alleged 100% ownership 18 months ago. In matter of fact, the ‘private’ economy is still, and will always be, 100% ‘private’ by the very definition of the term. But those are facts. And facts don’t move papers. Or in this case, cable subscriptions and advertising dollars.
So, how does a Government representative get away with outright bullshit on a national news network? Easily. She books her slot, shows up, spews nonsense and leaves. She’s not the only one.
One of the big issues here isn’t just how easily an elected official can go on a national news program and lie, although that bears some looking into, but why she wasn’t called on it. No-one at CNN interrupted her and said “Hey Mrs. Bachmann, um, that’s not true.” Nor did they issue any kind of statement afterwords saying “Hey world, Michelle Bachmann was here recently and she said some shit that was just, well, crazy. And we let her. And we’re sorry. For the record, here’s the facts.”
The fact that CNN (Cable News Network) has remained quiet on this and many other blatantly false proclamations is really concerning. Because there’s a whole bunch of folks out there who saw that segment and now believe that the U.S. Government is trying to take over the free market economy. And they have in CNN a credible source to reference as a source of their data.
Dear America. That you let your politicians lie to you blatantly is worrying. That your media helps them is terrifying. Please re-read the constitution and consider what the founding fathers intended when drafting the First Amendment.
Love, Canada.
