The recent uproar over Rush Limbaugh’s comments about stem cell political ads has been amusing and a bit depressing. Limbaugh’s comments have been criticized quite unfairly and inaccurately. Anyone who listened to the program on Tuesday and then monitored the media coverage must have wondered where the commentators got their ideas. USA TODAY, for example, had a half page article with a front page teaser about the situation.
The article contained very little that could pass for truth and quite a lot of exaggeration and distortion. Even that would not have been a problem if it had addressed even a bit of what Limbaugh said about the stem cell portion of the story. The advertisements themselves are dishonest and distortions of the truth. Yet not one main stream media outlet took note of this fact.
There is no problem with media members having political opinions but when printing them a disclaimer should be added. When a news story is news let it stand on its own and report both sides of the story. There are people who think that stem cell research is illegal in the US, this from a report on NBC News that inferred that conclusion. It is cloning that is illegal. This is the impression created by false or faulty reporting. This type of activity must be deliberate because while some in the media might be stupid certainly not all are. Some might be honest but most are not. These are two conclusions that may be safely drawn.
Further Michael J. Fox rebutted Limbaugh by saying his ads are not political in nature and that with regard to Parkinson’s he is apolitical. These statements are patently untrue and yet went unchallenged by Katie Couric during the interview. Such behavior shows disrespect to the audience and demonstrates the hypocrisy of the media. This might seem to be a fruitless exercise of expression but when confronted by the “Big Lie” one must keep pushing back.
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