Deadly Lies

In yet another attempt to smear President Bush, Newsweek did what most here have seen overzealous (if misguided) police and prosecutors do - rush to judgment. 

 

Newsweek magazine said on Sunday it erred in a May 9 report that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, and apologized to the victims of deadly Muslim protests sparked by the article.

 

Editor Mark Whitaker said the magazine inaccurately reported that U.S. military investigators had confirmed that personnel at the detention facility in Cuba had flushed the Muslim holy book down the toilet.
 

Because of Newsweek, people are dead.  After Stephen Glass, Jason Blair, Rathergate, and this latest Ken Starr/CBS nonsense; does any thinking person trust media outlets?  I sure don't. 

What I enjoy about blogs (especially legal blogs) is that there's a person behind it.  No blogger can say, "Mistakes were made" or that "The magazine incorrectly reported" some material fact.  If I screw up, there's only me to blame.  If I libel someone, I'll be held liable.  If I cross the line, the State Bar will be on the other end.

With blogs, there is a person behind the curtain.

Thus, I can't use my pen to poison.  Media outlets are different.

Shielded by the corporate veil and, how apt, New York Times v. Sullivan, these faceless, soulless corporations trip over themselves to sell smut and scandal. 

And who can blame them?  Sitting comfortably behind the corporate veil while their forked tongues skillfully avoid "actual malice," they live in a world without responsibility.  Someone else will clean up the mess.

In this case, the mess includes fiften bodies.