Gut Check

Yes, Newsweek and Michael Isikoff screwed up.

Yes, because of their screw-up, people died.

Yes, the US position in the Middle East and Central Asia was damaged – not fatally, but perhaps permanently.

No – nothing will change in the way the MSM conducts business.

Let me repeat that, just to make myself clear: Nothing will change. No improvements will be made. For the MSM, the lesson learned is not “let’s stick to the facts next time.” The lesson is, “let’s be more careful in how we present what we think the story is/should be.”

If there’s any kind of tipping point here, it will be in how the public perceives the news. There will be no change, none at all, in how the MSM perceives the news – nor in how it will choose to shape the story.

9/11 changed everything, we keep saying. For the MSM, 9/11 changed maybe a couple things