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Edited on Tue Jul-19-11 12:57 PM by Cleita
Thom Hartmann just told the story of Fox News anchors for a Fox entertainment station who refused to lie on the air and were subsequently fired. They filed a law suit about it and a court with no doubt a RW judge, decreed that they did not have to tell the truth on the news and therefore the lawsuit didn't stand.
This is the crux of the problem. We need some law that forces news reporters and corporations who call themselves news to tell the truth or be punished for not doing so, without infringing on their freedom of speech rights. Now I know there is a whole string of DUers who disagree with me but not doing so has led to the sorry state of our press and media today. I would start with Fox News and make them tell the truth or just call themselves Fox Fake News and Entertainment if they can't do that. If they admit that what they report is fiction in a sort of disclaimer before and after a show, then let them lie all they like. No freedom of speech is infringed upon, but if they claim to be reporting the straight news, then force them to check and double check their sources for accuracy and facts before they put the news out there.
You see the news is what is supposed to keep our government, leaders and other fat cats honest by reporting in an unbiased manner about their activities and especially shining a light on the activities that could be considered shady and downright criminal. We need to have that back and the only way I can see to do it in these days of multi-corporate behemoths owning everything is to make a law forcing them to report the unvarnished and sourced truth when they claim to be news.
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