9 Numbers

It’s one thing to forward a smear email to your friends without bothering to fact check it. I don’t make excuses for anyone who does that, and in fact i have a reputation for replying to every email forward with a Snopes link debunking it. I don’t get many email forwards anymore. But i can forgive people who don’t know any better.

But someone who considers himself a professional journalist is a disgrace to his profession if he prints a digusting partisan smear that has been completely and repeatedly debunked. Fact-checking is supposed to be one of the most basic skills of any journalist. You don’t print something you know is false.

Not even if it’s a letter to the editor:

In those final seconds before we mark our ballots, we have to ask ourselves: “Can I personally trust a candidate who placed his hand on the Quran when he was sworn in as a United States senator?” “Can I personally support a candidate who refuses to pledge the flag that so many Americans have fought and died under?” “Can I personally vote for a candidate who won’t even place his hand over his heart when others are pledging the flag?”

That’s a veritable Who’s Who of false email smears circulating the internet right now:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp

It’s digusting to see a supposedly legitimate news publication giving credence to the smears by printing them in the form of a letter to the editor. An “Opinion” section should be reserved for “opinions”. Stuff like “McCain has the best plan to address climate change” and “Obama doesn’t have the experience needed to be Commander In Chief.” Those are misguided opinions but they are, in fact, opinions.

Stuff like “Obama was sworn in with his hand on the Quran” and “Obama refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance” are not opinions. They are lies. See the difference? Outright lies are not suitable for printing in an “Opinion” section.

I am stunned.

(H/T: Mac)