Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?(Cue, Crickets)

Rhino Times, Greensboro, North Carolina ^ | 09 OCT2008 | Orson Scott Card

[Bush Revolution]

An open letter to the local daily paper – almost every local daily paper in America:

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.

What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.

break--One of the best parts of the article:

But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie – that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad – even bad weather – on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.

If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth – even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.

Because that's what honorable people do. Honest people tell the truth even when they don't like the probable consequences. That's what honesty means. That's how trust is earned.

[Bush Revolution]

This is great article and he's a Dem, a blue-dog Dem.

[El Sordo]

What with it being Orson Scott Card, I expected more character development.

[PeterFinn]

Reporters are the least trustworthy people in America anymore. My local paper, the Sacto. Bee gave up using AP style about 10 years ago because they were editing wire stories in the middle (a big no-no) and now they just gin up their own stuff and it’s pretty awful sometimes. While I still read the local news I generally get better news for Sacramento and California online and on FR than I do in the paper or on TV.