Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Why I hate modern news organizations, Part 1

I've often felt irked by the media's coverage of news, particularly politics, but rarely to the point where I considered it blog worthy. But as of this afternoon, I've had enough!

CNN, the LA Times, the NY Times, and plenty of other papers/blog/news organizations are all reporting headlines that riff on a "John McCain claims to have invented the BlackBerry" theme. And it is incredibly stupid.

First: McCain never said the quote in question
Second: The quote in question was NEVER about the BlackBerry
Third: It was never about invention of anything

The REAL story: (as found in the details of this blog )

The adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, was briefing reporters on Mr. McCain’s prescriptions for the meltdown on Wall Street, and citing his experience as the chairman of the commerce committee, when he was asked what Mr. McCain had done on the commerce committee that would show Americans that he understands financial markets.

“He didn’t have jurisdiction over financial markets, first and foremost,’’ Mr. Holtz-Eakin said, before wandering into more politically perilous ground.

“But he did this,’’ he said, holding up what looked like a BlackBerry. “The telecommunications of the United States, the premier innovation of the past 15 years, comes right through the commerce committee. So you’re looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create. And that’s what he did.’’

Have ALL the news outlets really become so obsessed with driving traffic and ratings that they have to twist the truth?

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