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"Death Panels": A Journalism Case Study
Two contrasting headlines from two very different news outlets.
New York Times: "False 'Death Panel' Rumor Has Some Familiar Roots"
Politico: "Sarah Palin and "death panels" - is she helping or hurting her political future?"
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Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Wolf Blitzer:
'Senator Mitch McConnell says the world is flat; what do you say to that Senator Dodd?'
August 14, 2009 9:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Politico: Lying doesn't matter, the bigger question is, are these lies effective? LOL
I think many in the MSM have followeed the callow Politico route here. Journos, if we can call them that, are spineless cowards who refuse to use the word "lies".
August 14, 2009 9:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
"journalists" see it as more lucrative to NOT speak truth to power, how else can they rise to that anchor desk, like Russert, Steph, David Gregory, Brian Williams, Charles Gibson?
August 14, 2009 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Tim Russert was a good anchor---always informed and to the point--do not lump him in with the rest, please! Johnw---
August 14, 2009 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
DOc,
I never liked Russert or his kind of "gotcha" journalism, drudging up something said or written 15 years ago as if people don't change.
His books about Big Russ were pushed all over MSNBC and NBC and the adulation he received from others on that network made me gag. And wasn't it Mary Maitalin that said the Bush/Cheney gang went on Meet the Press to get their message out?
I remember Russert interviewing Cheney just after they first took office, or just after the election; Russert seemed to be pleased as punch, with a grin from ear to ear as he sat in awe of the "gravitas" Russert attributed to Cheney. It was a frikkin love in.
There are a few more things on my list, but I'm getting tired of typing.
August 14, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please do not give this absurd comment more ink...She is an embarrassment to women and her party...! To legitimize her comments is a slur to the intelligence of those who see her and her ilke for the low information scare mongers they are..Please turn her off..no ink, no comments, no TV...Allow her to be the quitter and private citizen she now is!
August 14, 2009 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
I say the same thing about lush. Don't give him any press and he will dry up and blow away.
August 14, 2009 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Another example, today's Seattle Times, on the front page:
'Death panels' rumor sways senators
August 14, 2009 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Okrent's Law: "The pursuit of balance can create imbalance because sometimes something is true."
We have news organizations that are so paranoid about being called "BIASED LIBERAL MEDIA" that they feel like they have to give "equal time" to utter farce - the birthers, the death panels, the Secret Muslim conspiracy - like they can't simply say "THIS IS MADE UP AND UNTRUE" but rather feel like they have to say "Some claim it is untrue" or "The claims made may be somewhat questionable" rather than "This claim is patently false and unsubstantiated by any evidence."
I'm glad the NYT is finally calling the Death Panels false, but that's only after a few days of treating them like marginally legitimate.
Meanwhile, the organizations that support these fringes have no qualms at all with only providing one side - often the false one - while simultaneously claiming any organization that doesn't give their side equal time (and equal legitimacy) as biased.
August 14, 2009 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course there is a death panel....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/24/AR2009072402079.html
August 14, 2009 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course, at every "health" insurance carrier in the country. That's why we need reform to get rid the insurance industry death panels. I take it you are on board with single payer to get rid of death panels.
August 14, 2009 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Shooter, as he's stated before, just wants the government to keep out of Medicare. The notion that the government could negotiate better prices on behalf of Medicare is an egregious violation of free market principles.
August 14, 2009 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Free market principles" concerning healthcare is laughable. I really don't know what planet these idiots live on. There is no competition and no market forces involved concerning healthcare. Healthcare is like the police or fire department. Any competition there? Also, the industry is a virtual monopoly. There is no market. What a bunch of tools for the industry. Pathetic.
August 14, 2009 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't forget this one: http://www.gop.org/splashpage/index.aspx
August 14, 2009 11:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
OMG! There's another African American Republican -- he's in that picture with Steele! Mike be da man!
August 14, 2009 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
shooter,
I read your link, Broder's column. There's nothing there that remotely mentions death panels.
Now you can use the standard right wing tactic of finding something written or said by the opposition then offering up your warped interpretation of what you read or heard, and hey, it seems that's exactly what you're doing here.
August 14, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why are the righties so up in arms about the death panel? Don't they realize the next time they get another one of "theirs" in the White House they can put all the illegals, homeless, non-born-agains, etc in front of the death panel?
They can even get rid of those pesky 30 and unders that lean so much to the left.
August 14, 2009 11:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
The subject of "death panels" just happened to be the sound bite that came around at the right moment. It could have been any false claim. It didn't matter. It gave the media something to latch onto and fill their void so that they would not have to read the Bills coming out of Congress and concern themselves with those pesky boring facts. They could have dispelled "death panels" in one segment and shut the story down, thus educating Seniors and calming their fears with the actual truth that all this GOP fiction, but then they would have to report about real health care issues, not screaming idiots that make good video clips.
August 14, 2009 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
That New York Times piece is what we used to know as journalism
I don't read Politico any more
August 14, 2009 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bush introduced Politico to the world at one of his press conferences. Nuf Said.
August 14, 2009 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink