November 21, 2004
Do some reporting
The CNN headline to the tax returns amendment to the omnibus spending bill story is "Frist: Tax-returns measure indefensible." The story is no longer the amendment, who put it there, or why, it's the "outrage", the damage control. We see this far too often; the media let the politicians move the goalposts, and in this case, we're left with a feeling that the Republicans, of all people, are the victims: "accountability will be carried out," CNN reports Frist as saying.
The story also quotes Frist as saying, "I have no earthly idea how it got in there," and apparently, neither does CNN. You get the sense that the reporter -- unnamed, attributed only to the CNN Washington bureau -- couldn't care less, can't be bothered to investigate the details of the story, is only interested in uncritically parroting what each side is saying. In fairness, I realize how difficult it can be to obtain this information. I mean, I had to use Google like a sucker.
The story also quotes Frist as saying, "I have no earthly idea how it got in there," and apparently, neither does CNN. You get the sense that the reporter -- unnamed, attributed only to the CNN Washington bureau -- couldn't care less, can't be bothered to investigate the details of the story, is only interested in uncritically parroting what each side is saying. In fairness, I realize how difficult it can be to obtain this information. I mean, I had to use Google like a sucker.
