Is the "News" News? Rarely

Two reports in the media (maybe I should disregard it) illustrate why in many cases the "news" isn't news. In my world, news is supported by data or visual confirmation from independent sources . . . facts. But for many years, "news" organizations report opinions and beliefs as news more and more. A reporter observes or learns something from investigative research and then turns in his story to an editor who decides how to "make" it better and to check on the facts, etc. But if you've ever seen something happen and then read about it in the paper the next day, you know what I'm talking about.

Back to the reports in the media today . . . . The US military command in Iraq defended the practice of paying Iraqi news media to produce positive stories about US military efforts to bring stability to Iraq . . . . saying it was needed to counter falsehoods and propaganda from the opposition . . . hmmmm, if that's justifiable then what can we believe?

Then there's Superior Court Judge Llooyd Connelly, who recently ordered the Schwarzenegger's administration to remove a state-produced video that was intended to look like an objective news report from a state Web site. The Governator was using your tax dollars to promote a myth. Just another example of how promotions become "news". . . .

BE CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU READ AND DON'T THINK IT'S THE NEWS.