Let’s go right to the big example of falsehoods promulgated about a candidate:
During the 2004 race, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth aired television ads saying that Kerry, the Democrats’ presidential nominee, had made “exaggerated claims” about his four-month tour of duty as the skipper of a Navy patrol-boat crew in South Vietnam. The group said Kerry – who won several medals while serving in Vietnam but later became an outspoken opponent of the war – made “phony” charges that US troops committed war crimes.
The ads, paid for by leading Republican contributors but not directly linked to the Bush campaign, made headlines and led nightly newscasts. Kerry, according to top aides, deeply regrets that he did not aggressively confront the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks. He said yesterday he is still trying to set the record straight.
So, these ads made headlines and led the nightly news–it sounds like the non-Internet media was largely responsible for their promulgation. Where could you go to get a debunking of the innuendo?
The Internet. Snopes.com was one place to look. For a more thorough debunking, there is Bob Somerby’s Daily Howler, which is still going strong in pointing out inconsistencies & mularkey in the media. Read this Howler to see just how O’Neill spun many falsehoods right past Ted Koppel to a broad audience of voters. Then read this Howler to learn that Koppel didn’t prepare for his own show that day, he was out socializing with his buddy Colin Powell. (Oddly enough, one of O’Neill’s lies was that his lies about Kerry were consistent with Boston Globe reports.) Part of the internet’s advantage is that is doesn’t cost more to include more details and links to sources and so Somerby’s not fighting constraints of space on a page or time in a broadcast.
When the next nasty whisper campaign shows up–whether it’s spread by Fox News or chain emails–internet sites like the Daily Howler and TPM Election Central and even BMG are going to be the first places a news consumer can go to get a better grasp on the truth.
