Opinion: Fox News shames journalism
By Alex EmslieOPINIONS AND EDITORIALS EDITOR
Famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein summed up the constant battle journalists fight between fact checking and deadlines, "Done right, reporting -- good journalism -- is nothing more or less than the best obtainable version of the truth." Journalists will always make mistakes because sometimes the "best obtainable version of the truth" under deadline pressure isn't the whole truth.
The New York Times and The Washington Post, arguably the most prestigious and far-reaching newspapers in the United States, have to live with blindly accepting flawed intelligence and trumpeting the Iraq War.
A famous picture of President Harry S. Truman holding a copy of the Nov. 3, 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune with the large, boldfaced headline "Dewey Defeats Truman," provides a more historic example of a publisher's rush to report stories before the competition. Truman won the election in an upset, and the Tribune got it wrong.
Every newspaper prints corrections, mostly because the rush to publish sometimes outweighs the need to check and double-check facts -- even though it never should.
There is a very striking distinction, however, between innocent mistakes and intentionally doctoring a report to sell an agenda, as Sean Hannity did on Nov. 5. Hannity, a Fox News commentator, did a report on Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann's health care reform protest at Washington D.C.'s National Mall earlier that day. The Washington Post said the crowd of about 10,000 wasn't big enough to glorify conservative opposition to health care reform.
So Hannity's show doctored the footage. His staff spliced in scenes from the Fox News-promoted "9/12" protest which occurred almost two months earlier. The highest reliable estimate of that crowd was between 60,000 and 70,000 according to ABC news.
The world may never have known about the bold-faced lie propagated by Fox News if it weren't for media watchdog Jon Stewart. "The Daily Show" noticed abrupt changes in weather and the trees between separate shots in the report, and Stewart called Hannity on his gross misrepresentation of the facts. Hannity offered up a snide, smiling "apology," strangely directed at Stewart and not the viewers he attempted to mislead the next day. The other major networks carried clips from both shows toward the end of their broadcasts. Because Stewart is generally funny, the story wasn't taken seriously, and we all had a good chuckle.
But we're not laughing. Journalists are only as useful as their credibility, and stunts like the one Hannity pulled hurt the whole industry. The majority of journalists strive to curb any bias they may naturally have and simply report the truth. It's the credo, the essence, of our career, and Fox News has yet again cheapened it.
This story should have been handled more seriously than it was. Hannity should be fired and made an example for all journalists who might want to stretch the facts to conform to their own opinion. Other news sources -- TV, print, radio or online -- should be ashamed that Comedy Central caught the mistake before they did.
Stewart continues to offer a refreshing alternative to the rest of TV news, and he deserves more credit than the sarcastic clips the other networks give him. "The Daily Show" has recently started showing extended, serious interviews online. Since Jon Stewart took over "The Daily Show" in 1999, the program has enjoyed wild success and prompted some anchors to envy Stewart's connection with a younger audience.
Is it because he's funny, and younger generations aren't interested in serious news programs? No, it's because "The Daily Show" doesn't assume its viewers are stupid, something the other networks, especially Fox News, might try.
