A JOURNALIST WHO GETS IT:

A JOURNALIST WHO GETS IT: Why yes, we do cover more than Janet Jackson’s boobs (which is more than she covers, these days). Lowell Branham of The Knoxville News Sentinel is a rare journalist who understands media bias:

I don’t know why left-wingers and the media establishment harbor such antipathy toward SUVs, but I suspect it may be because SUVs are a vehicle much favored by those of us who hunt and fish.

Anyone who hunts or fishes must be an insensitive brute, and since the left-wingers long battle to take our guns away has failed to yield results, now they’re going after our wheels.

When I started out in the news business nearly 45 years ago, advocacy by editorial writers and columnists was acceptable, but a strong effort was made to keep the news columns free of tilt or bias.

But even back then the principle of impartiality was beginning to erode, and nowadays it’s reached the point where there’s scarcely any pretense of maintaining fairness and objectivity.

In fact, practically any day of the week I can scan the news wires and find multiple examples of downright falsehoods being foisted off on the public to make a point.

What I don’t know is whether the falsehoods are deliberate or simply a product of the ignorance of the writers and the editors who foster them. It doesn’t make much difference, though, in terms of the impact on readers who are savvy enough to know when they’re being lied to.

Branham writes that “It’s no wonder journalists now rank below lawyers and used-car salesmen in the eyes of the public”. And it’s no wonder so many Blogs have sprouted up to call them on their lies.