This week, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh was forced out of a group seeking to purchase the St. Louis Rams football team, a group that approached him from the start. That is a story unto itself. But what happened in the news media this week demonstrates once again why journalism in this country is nothing more than a farce.
CNN and MSNBC were the culprits this time, citing that Rush Limbaugh made racist comments on his talk show. These comments were reported by CNN, MSNBC and Jack Huberman’s post on the Huffington Post as proof that Limbaugh was a racist, and therefore did not deserve to be a part owner of an NFL team. However, the news media never sourced those comments. What? Are you kidding me? They reported to their thousands (maybe tens of thousand?) of viewers that Rush Limbaugh said something without first checking to see if he actually did?
The Media Research Center President Brent Bozell has demanded that CNN and MSNBC provide proof that Limbaugh made those comments. The Media Research Center also reports today that MSNBC has admitted that they were unable to verify those statements were made by Limbaugh, but they have not offered an apology or a retraction. And the Huffington Post has since deleted those quotes from Huberman’s article.
Remember what your mom told you? “Don’t believe everything you read.” She couldn’t have been more right.
And the media, slobbering over Rush Limbaugh’s removal from the group, proved just how left they are.
MRC was created for/by conservatives. says so on their ‘about’ page.
they can’t manufacture credibility for themselves, they have to earn it – and the way to earn it is to watchdog all media, not just the stories they disagree with or media outlets conservatives regularly have conflict with.
the vast majority of the US loves to loathe Rush. he’s an asshat, stereotypical Republican blowhard, and he’s said so many hateful things over the last 20+ years that i have no problem believing he made racist comments.
however, if the media couldn’t find one person to verify having heard him say it, then they should have clearly labeled it as unverified rumor, rather than any sort of fact statement.
That the media didn’t verify to see if he had or had not made those comments is really the whole point. That’s why it has become a farce. And that’s a significant problem because of the power the media wields.
Rush Limbaugh has denied making those comments, and is considering legal action. He has the money to consider that option. Not everyone does.
So when people listen to the mainstream media, which continues to report ‘rumors’ as fact, they form beliefs about what they hear. For example, the endless attacks against Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are often unsunstantiated, but folks are robbed of the opportunity to base their opinions on fact.
As for Rush Limbaugh, after listening to him for some time, I have never heard him make a racist remark. That doesn’t mean I agree with everything he says, but I feel confident that my opinion of him is based on my experience, and not on third-party rumor-mongering.