Does anyone think it should be against the law for journalists to distort

[saracat]

the truth when reporting the news? I was thinking about this as I read about how many Americans think Iraq had WMD and people like Hannity distoring reports on demonstrations. I am for free speech and wouldn't prosecute distortion if it was stated as "opinion' but "deliberate" distorions should NOT be tolerated.

[eallen]

1. Absolutely not. That just begs for an Office of Truth.

The free press, for all the dross it creates, is critical to a free society.

:hippie:

[C_U_L8R]

2. Journalists need to police their own profession

too many flaks need to be tossed out of the business

[seabeyond]

3. not against the law. they should lose their job. n/t

[movonne]

4. I think it should....

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. Hannity Isn't A News Show. It Is Cable Entertainment.

[Monkeyman]

7. Hannity is a child watch him pound his papers and act like a two year old

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

14. I Avoid Wathcing Him Doing Anything At All Costs.

I can't even tolerate the sight of him.

[Monkeyman]

22. I get the RNC talking points from him and counter them

[bananarepublican]

24. Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer!

I can now watch FOX because I am totally immune from it. The simple filter I put in place is the assumption that everything they present has a warped agenda.

To me, watching FOX is an amusement, nothing more.

P.S. When the tanks rolled into Iraq I was an unenlightened idiot. I regret my past ignorance/stupidity/intolerance.

[NYCGirl]

6. No. Absolutely not. That's a real slippery slope you describe. NT

[Jade Fox]

8. We should have a real FCC.....

one that monitors and fines (heavily) media outlets for mis-information, and requires those outlets to issue public corrections. There also needs to be very clear distinctions made in the media between fact and opinion. "Opinionmeisters" need to identify themselves as such, and make it clear what they say may not be factual.

Free speech has nothing to do with lies and distortion.

[joemurphy]

9. Journalists really aren't policed. Telejournalists, for example,

are often beholden to their corporate bosses. Witness a guy like Tim Russert
who, supposedly, turned Republican (even to the point of wearing a Bush pin) because his boss wanted him that way. The blandishments of money will slant people in almost any direction desired if there aren't any checks on it.

Hence, reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine would probably be a good idea.

Short of licensing them and making retention of their licenses subject to conformity with ethical behavior (as is the case with attorneys and doctors), I don't see how you can curb the abuses that we see on a regular basis. This, of course, will never happen due to 1st Amendment concerns.

There's also the nagging question -- who is a journalist? Maybe I'm being one now as I write this.

[pinto]

10. I'll reiterate the comments above. Hannity's not a journalist.

He's a talk show host.

But to answer your question. No.

[nosillies]

11. You could have OPINION/EDITORIAL flashing really big on the screen

and there are still idiots that would think Hannity, O'Reilly, etc. were all speaking the gospel truth.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. No, I think what we need is to reverse several decades of

media consolidation and bring back the fairness doctrine.

If there were more options out there, FOX wouldn't carry so much weight. I was actually at a mini bank branch in a Safeway the other day, and there was a TV there for the folks in line- tuned, of course, to FOX News. And I couldn't help thinking- would anyone EVER play such blatant propaganda for the left to a random, captive audience? I don't even know if there are any examples- but I bet they wouldn't play something like "Democracy Now", either.

It's appalling.

[EST]

13. You have a strong point.

I would support some stricter 'truth in packaging' standards or licensing standards. Humor, propaganda or entertainment needs to be labeled as such and an outlet that purports to report unadorned facts needs to be responsible for the quality of that reporting.

People do make mistakes, but the quality of one's character is easily measured by one's willingness to take responsibility and clean up the mess. Peddling lies, intentionally, is an egregious form of pornography and a series of confiscatory fines might make the operators take a clearly defined position on ethics, morals and the liberal truth.

Hmmm...ethics classes?

I am always gratified when Olberman refers to Lush Rimjob as "comedian Rush Limbaugh!"

[ContraBass Black]

15. Not a chance.

Who's going to enforce that law?

[Fridays Child]

16. The best check against this came from the Fairness Doctrine...

...which is precisely why conservatives are loathe to see it re-instituted.

[w4rma]

17. Yeah, the Fairness Doctrine needs to be returned. (nt)

[pretzel4gore]

18. actually, a generation of mediawhores

put to death would maybe restore some appreciation of truth and the meaning of integrity to future generations of newsw/men....start with brite hum, and john gibson (his own '5 in the noggin' :)) candy crowley, dobbs lou, limbah-humbug, woof blitzer, bob scheiffer, michael isikoff, tom friedman, bob woodward, judith miller, novack, o'lielly, geraldo, cookie roberts, george stepinlotsofit...sheese, we'd have to hire repukes to shootem all!
hahaha

[w4rma]

19. Dobbs is one of the few journalists who is covering important topics. (nt)

[HereSince1628]

20. It's all fiction and echoes of fiction and echoes of echoes of fiction

It's all entertainment meant to bring viewers to advertisements. It's purposefully distorted to meet the needs of those advertisers.

What sucks is that BushCO uses our tax dollars to produce and run phoney news that isn't even entertaining. Shit, I know geckos and ducks are already taken but they COULD use a blood sucking ferret.

[bowens43]

21. No. Absolutely not.

The last thing wee need is to further castrate the 1st Amendment.

[kestrel91316]

23. Distortion is in the eye of the beholder. You want some Repuke bureaucrat

deciding when media distorts and when it doesn't???????????

[JVS]

25. dangerous rule there