Media

    "And yet we come here, knowing the rules: that our enemies don't simply want to beat us, but destroy us. That anyone close to us is fair game for a media which has no limits. We know that, and still we enter politics." Richard North Patterson, Balance of Power.


    As I read this passage this morning, I couldn't help but think of the events of the last week. Of how a young man made a choice to raise a firearm and take the lives of people whom he did not know. Of how immediate speculation, not fact, took over those who we rely upon to inform us. Of how their speculations were both wrong and irresponsible. Of how these editors, producers, newscasters and political pundits allowed speculation to override the need of the readers and viewers, of us, to have the facts and only the facts.


    Due to the speculative and irresponsible reporting, some people have been making death threats against those who had the media pointing fingers at them. I would hope that the media take notice and apologize for the inaccuracies of their speculative and inflammatory reporting thereby diffusing this situation but I won't hold my breath. They owe an apology to the Palin family and to talk radio hosts for pointing the finger at them and putting them in harms way. No matter what you think of Sarah Palin, she is a human being, a daughter, wife and mother and an American. She and her family shouldn't have to live in fear just as you and I shouldn't have to live in fear because of what we say or believe. The same applies for talk radio hosts. They too, have families and should be free of threats to themselves or families due to non factual reporting.


    The sad part of all this is that because a "no limits" media says and does what it wants without regard to the truth or consequence, someone may be gravely harmed or even die. This is not just a national politics issue. It has happened on the local level as well with the reporting of court trials and crime scene reporting. I, personally, can't think of a newscast in which I didn't see the reporter speculate or let the person being interviewed speculate with no facts to back the speculation. And , yet, we never hold these news organizations accountable, or demand that they only report what can be proven by facts.


    While I understand and am proud that this is America and we have the freedom to say what we want, when we want, due to our Constitution and Bill of Rights, we also have a responsibility to be correct in what we say when it comes to the description of others and their actions. The freedom of speech may very well be our most important freedom and as such should be traeted with the care and respect it commands.


    There is a quote that I have always loved:


   "There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes;  the true - where a man is free to do what he ought." Charles Kingsley