Journalists Think Telling Truth Is Good Idea

Journalists across the world have fallen for another hoax - that of the tale of Jimmy Massey, a man claimed to have served in Iraq but quit after all the horrible, horrible things that his fellow troops did.

Except it wasn't true.

News organizations worldwide published or broadcast Massey's claims without any corroboration and in most cases without investigation. Outside of the Marines, almost no one has seriously questioned whether Massey, a 12-year veteran who was honorably discharged, was telling the truth.

He wasn't.

Each of his claims is either demonstrably false or exaggerated - according to his fellow Marines, Massey's own admissions, and the five journalists who were embedded with Massey's unit, including a reporter and photographer from the Post-Dispatch and reporters from The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal.

Now the media is asking 'why?'

Editors at some papers look back at the Massey articles and are surprised that they ran them without examining whether the claims were true or without ever asking the Marine Corps about them.

"I'm looking at the story and going, 'Why, why would we have run this without getting another side of the story?'" said Lois Wilson, managing editor of the Star Gazette in Elmira, N.Y.

The media tries to spin itself straight:

In many cases, journalists covered Massey as he was speaking at public gatherings. Some reporters said that because he was making public statements, they didn't feel an obligation to check his claims. Some editors worried they could be accused of covering up his claims if they didn't report on his speech.

No, the truth is much more simple than that. Take it from Nicky and I who both spent considerable time in the Fourth Estate.

To quote the memorable words of X-Files' Fox Mulder: They're true in the sense that they are believed to be true.

The mainstream media wants to believe bad things about our troops and therefore laps up anything that fits that paradigm. Why should they verify facts when they want to believe what they are being told is the truth?

If anyone has any doubts about this mindset, consider the way US 'memo-gate' producer Mary Mapes still tries to defend her role in Rathergate.

-- Nora

Hat Tip: Leigh's House of Wheels