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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (21322)	12/24/2003 1:02:06 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793771

So it's OK to lie, distort & mislead in an opinion piece? Of course not. I don't think those things are OK anywhere except for unusual situations like espionage or perhaps the occasional medical use like making a person believe he isn't going to die when you think he is so that he has a better chance of survival. And you think that opinion pieces don't count as part of information disseminated by the media to its audience? They are part of the information disseminated but the three kinds of items published in newspapers have different purposes and different standards. You have to recognize the differences when you evaluate them. Context is everything. It is not legitimate to attribute any alleged distortions in an op-ed column to bias on the part of the paper that published it. If you have a problem with Cohen's opinion, then your complaint is with Cohen, not the Post. Newspapers publish news articles, editorials, and op-ed columns. News articles are supposed to be accurate and unbiased. There are editors whose job it is to see that that occurs. If the news is biased, you have a legitimate complaint. Newspapers also publish editorials, which are the opinion of the paper, it's publishers, its editors. All newspapers have a POV. You may like it and agree with it or not. It's their opinion and they're entitled to it. If you don't like it, you can disagree with them and you can complain that the publication is liberal. But you can't complain that it has a POV because it's supposed to. It shouldn't be inaccurate or distorted, but it's expected to be biased because it represents a POV. And lastly there are the columns, which are the opinions of their authors and not the responsibility of the publication. Yes, the Post publishes Cohen, a liberal. But it also publishes Will, a conservative. Newspapers try for an interesting mix. That they publish some liberal columnists is not an indication of the editorial bias of the publication. You'll find that in the editorials, where it belongs, and unfortunately sometimes in the news articles, where it doesn't belong. When you evaluate bias, you need to take into consideration the type of item. Now, as for lies, distortions, and intentional misleading in this particular column, we've discussed the Iraqi threat subject before. There is a legitimate, IMO, difference of opinion about whether Cohen's assertions are correct or not. Your opinion is that they are lies. You're entitled to that opinion. You're not entitled to treat your opinion as if it were fact or to slander Cohen with assertions of lies. You can express an opinion that the material is misleading but you can't legitimately treat that or any other opinion you hold as if it were a fact.