Private Lynch

[The Brain]

The organization with which we should be angry is the media in general, who have a problem with fact checking or, even easier, waiting for the smoke to clear to get the real story rather than leading with speculation and fantasy in order to \"scoop\" the other 24 hour news networks.

The main reason I feel <b>all news telecasts need to be removed form the Nielsen ratings system</b> (although I know full well that day will never come). Networks should simply eat the cost of putting a news division together, rather than worry about catering to advertising dollars.

You know what would happen if they did that? Less (or better yet, no) "fluff" pieces or "shocking exposes" that pop up around Sweeps periods, and more dedication to gathering all the facts of a hard-line news story before presenting it on the air-- rather than what we see with stories like Jessica Lynch, or during the "shock and awe" campaign, when conflicting reports came out as to whether they succeeded in killing Hussein. Shit, we <i>still</i> don't know if he's dead. But the news channels and local telecasts will still throw the info out there, 'cause hey, they can always retract the story later with no penalty, under the guise that they're simply trying to inform the public.

The public wants the actual facts, and we'll willingly wait until the facts are evident.