Tucson lapse more proof Big Media as untrustworthy as Congress

Big Media’s latest lapse can be found in propaganda-style coverage of the Tucson murders. As officials clung to information about the shooter—and there was apparently a lengthy paper trail—Big Media began to blame the right for crimes committed by a man who had no connection, it turned out, to the right. He was closer to the left or to anarchy.

Big Media can no longer claim to be the watchdog a free country really needs. There’s enough hypocrisy among major media outlets to fill a trillion 24/7 news cycles on cable.

These are dark days. Big Media has not only often skewed the truth and cast principles aside, many outlets function as outright political advocates for officials who are calling for policy which will defile one of the most significant amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Before the Tucson tragedy, it was evident Main Street could no longer trust traditional institutions to deliver information. Five major lapses along with numerous others give an idea of the principles of the employees, editors and publishers who gather, write and shape information.

1. “Washington Post (WaPo) publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive ‘salon’ at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to ‘those powerful few’ — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.”—Politico, Jul. 3, 2009.

One of the most cited newspapers in the nation, whose coverage affects news in numerous dailies, was going to put elected officials on the auction block for profit. Apparently WaPo had the consent of the officials.

2. WaPo presented a non-conservative as a conservative, promoting a young blogger as something he was not. He resigned. This is like hiring Charles Krauthammer to write a progressive column except the WaPo blogger lacked Krauthammer’s writing talent.—Remarks based on reports from Politico, June 25, 2010.

3. Journolist. A leftist WaPo blogger founded a listserv made up of members who work for Big Media. The list functioned sort of like a junior high school phone tree. Via the Internet, those who wrote content for our country’s newspapers and other outlets, virtually (in both senses of the word) shaped the news in a uniform way. This influenced the 2008 elections, along with the fact the GOP had a candidate many Republicans could not or would not get behind. See The Daily Caller for full coverage of Journolist.

4. John Edwards. The campaign swearing allegiance to family values. The senator sleeping with a staffer who later gave birth to his child.  The other staffer who claimed it was HIS child. Meanwhile Edwards’ loyal wife was dying of cancer. Edwards was a viable candidate for president. Every major media outlet ignored this story even though rumors were afloat before The National Enquirer broke the John Edwards scandal above the fold.

5. Tucson. As evidenced by a story at TV Newser (based on an ABC interview), the deliberate character assassination of Americans who do not agree with the big-government model. The deliberate manipulation of words to establish political fact rather than truth. The blasé response when politicians began to call for policy that contradicts the First Amendment. The affront to everyone who lost their lives that day—a refusal to tell the truth about the suspect.

The Tucson lapse is one more sad chapter in too many to list here, in an encyclopedia of missed or deliberately twisted stories.

The Arizona Republic said the Pima County authorities still refuse to release public records on the suspect. The Republic is one of the few papers to tell the truth about Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik's politicization of the tragedy.

We can no long rely on brands we once held respect for.

Trust in Congress remains at an all-time low.

Distrust in media, according to a Gallup Poll in September, 2010, is at an all-time high.

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(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Jan. 12, 2011)