This letter was written to the editor of The Progressive Review, to whom I had previously recommended the "Factcheck dot org" service.
At the beginning of the summer I wrote you about Factcheck.org, an organization that proported (and at that time appeared) to uncover hypocrisy and, well, fact-check political ads and claims.
I'd like to retract that recommendation.
They aren't lying, nor are they particularly biased. That's the problem.
More and more over the last few months I've noted that they've given equal weight to all sources of information, regardless of source, in order to be as unbiased as possible. I'm reminded of the "battle" between Capitol Hill Blue and NewsMax over Mrs. Regan's endorsement (or lack thereof) of G.W. Bush.
When dealing with an Administration (and it's cronies) exemplified by Cheney continuing to assert links between Al-Queda as official reports deny any such link... well, giving the same weight to a liar and a True Witness (a la Robert Heinlein in _Stranger in a Strange Land_) wouldn't make much sense either - especially if you don't mention the reliability of the people (or offices) making the statements. It's even gotten more ludicrous with the "Swift Boat" debacle, and so ultimately it serves the interests of the right.
By presenting so much contradictory information, it becomes overwhelming - and so we start skimming and stop paying attention. We start going with our "guts" and our baser instincts. Our fears instead of our hopes. Which brings us right back to good old "For us or against us".
I've been thinking this for a while, actually, but bring it up mostly because as I've caught up (again) with my news, I'm worried that you might be doing a bit of the same - not in an effort to appear unbiased, but in an effort to get out "all" the news.
That, of course, is for you to judge.
Peace,
Steve
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