Bad journalism is more than liberal bias


As a conservative, I am put off by the relentless liberal preening you see on CNN. As a thinking human being I’m revolted by the grotesque circus that is the Nancy Grace Show. Nonetheless, it is a sad fact that when CNN is good, it is very good. So good, in fact, that it leaves the cheap tabloid prime time of Fox News in the dust.

Their recent program on the Martin Luther King assassination was a great case in point. In telling the story, they let the conspiracy theorists make their charges. Then, at the end, they demolished them with photographs, police reports, and witness testimony. For a brief moment, truth prevailed over tabloid gossip.

Contrast that with FNC’s appalling Greta van Sustren who keeps promoting the idea that a royal conspiracy had a hand in the death of Princess Diana. There is no evidence to support such speculation, but Fox allows (encourages?) her to keep beating that same dead horse.

The Duke lacrosse case was another instance where FNC’s addiction to cheap sensation left it eating the dust of its liberal competition. Its talk radio model gave a forum to hoax enablers like Georgia Goslee and Wendy Murphy where they spewed their lies and bile. It was “60 Minutes” that investigated the case and laid out the many misrepresentations of Mike Nifong. No one at Fox had the courage of Ed Bradley.