What a relief to hear the group which controls telecommunications in this country has decided against allowing broadcast outlets to knowingly broadcast false news.
Of course, there's lots of false news that already gets published, thanks to lazy and/or overworked and undertrained journalists. There are plenty of folks in the media ready to reprint whatever they're told over a beer, or simply rewrite what gets sent in a news release. Others, too, have an agenda they sometimes not-so-subtly push, thanks to favours or perceived favours from the people they're covering or a hatred they developed for someone else. It happens especially in smaller places where nearly everyone has a history of some sort with everyone else. Even so, it never fails to surprise me when people quote back to me some of the total crap or halftruths they have heard or read.
It's tough to stay above the fray when you live near the people you cover, especially when their decisions affect you every day. But as one of my j-school teachers often said, "You can't be objective, but you can be fair."
By fair, I mean actual fairness, not "fair and balanced" as used by FOX "news" which uses fair and balanced the way the 'holy roman empire' used holy.
Hey, I only reprint what I hear over *two* beers... get it straight, will ya!
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