What has happened to the press and responsibility?

When I was in my early 20's, I had two cousins die in a car accident. My sister nearly joined them but we got lucky with fantastic doctors who saved her life.

This was one of the most tragic and horrifying car crashes that had ever happened in the over 150 years that my city had been settled, so naturally the press was interested. We ended up with over 1100 people in attendance at the funeral, and people donating to try to help my sister's recovery (contrary to popular belief, Canada Health does NOT pay for absolutely everything and there ARE limits).

Of course... I was interviewed.

Now, I am NOT a religious person. And that's putting it politely. To say that I think its a crock would be understating my opinion.

So during the interview I said "Thank goodness my sister is alive". In fact, after that sentence, I attributed my sisters survival to the wonderful doctors in my area. Which the press promptly changed to "The family thanks god for the one family member that survived and hopes those lost are blessed in heaven" from that one quote. Now... exactly where did I say that? I didn't. And I was pretty disgusted that they changed my words. I purposely chose not to let any "god" enter into what I said.

Thus was my introduction to the lies, and twists of truth, that the press is capable of.

Canada is one of the most free presses in the world. As you can see from the above map which I got from wikipedia, and they got from Reporters without Borders 2008.

It is even more free than the United States. But I would also like to stipulate that they seem to lie alot less, they are less sensationalistic, and they twist the truth fewer times than the American press.

Lets examine the history of Freedom of the Press just a bit in the United States. Supposedly, the government is not allowed to interfere in the press whatsoever. At least that's what the Constitution states. And actually, the government keeps its word as well as any government. In fact, if the government (or anyone else for that matter) so much as remotely suggests that the press should not be able to say what its saying, even if what its saying is a lie, people run and hide because that Amendment to the Constitution as though its a shield and refuse to take responsibility for their actions.

There was a time when being part of the press meant something. It was considered a great coup to get a juicy real life story and many reporters would do anything to get it. They wouldn't have to stretch the truth because the truth was already so good.

The press in this country has lost its way. Lies, manipulation, leaving out parts of the truth, and twisting the rest of it until it barely resembles the truth. And all because no one can ever take the press to task over its behavior. They behave like the Paparazzi in England.

They have a golden opportunity to educate people on things like health care, but they do not do it. Instead, they seem to think that balance is the same thing as accuracy. It isn't.

Just to give a small example...

The reporting during the health care debates. They could make a big deal about the truth of health care and what the reforms really offer. Instead, they are focusing on the sensationalism of Sarah Palin's "Death Panels" remark, even after she has proven herself to be one of the most unreliable and fundamentalist religious members of the government. They could spread the truth about how National Health Care works instead of taking the minority of circumstances and over blowing them to resemble something horrific.

They report the less than 1% of Canadians that cross the border for care as though its common. Except that 95% of Canadians wouldn't get rid of their National Health Care plan (no matter how much the government complains about cost) for any reason.

The press could tell the truth, for a change. They could do their jobs, for a change. Instead they devote far too much time to Mark Sanfords cheating on his wife.

While Internationalization of media has been a truly amazing thing, deresponsibility of those who are part of it is truly disgusting.

It is not ok to tell lies, not even if you're a reporter looking for a sensationalistic story.