popular thinking

The answer, of course, is both. Let's review some recent examples wherein...

-- FOX News posted an online column that used fake quotes by John Kerry proclaiming himself a victorious "metrosexual" who gives great manicures following his first debate with the president.

-- FOX News also posted a story about a fake group, Communists For Kerry.

-- CBS News broadcast a story using fake documents about the president's service, or lack thereof, in the Alabama National Guard during Vietnam.

What do these stories all have in common? Reporters wanted these stories to be true (bias) and didn't investigate the facts (lazy) before putting these stories out into the mix for all to see and share. It's not so much about liberal vs. conservative bias as much as it is about getting the story right vs. getting the story first. My first city editor used to say, thankfully with tongue in cheek, "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story!" His joke hit home because it pointed out, even then, that the media usually misplaces its priorities. I've seen even less trivial examples in which local newspapers and TV outlets allow themselves to be duped because they were unwilling to investigate the basic facts, allowing the scammer to pass his/her story off as true without questioning it. Sometimes another factor comes into play here: Reporters push stories forward due to time restraints when their editors vouch for them in the morning/afternoon story meetings, especially when the reporters have no substitute story to fill the newshole. They feel like they have to produce, so they take shortcuts. Tis sad but true, not just in media circles but also in other career fields, too.