War of distortion claims to be news

To the editor:

In a recent column, Robert Polack Jr. defended the mainstream media by insisting that no liberal bias exists. With due respect to Polack and his research, I vehemently disagree. As an avid news junkie, I watch with dismay as a war of distortion is fought between left-leaning mainstream broadcast news and right-wing talk radio. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to spot bias when Dan Rather links the shocking conversations of Enron traders to George Bush while not even mentioning that all of this took place on Bill Clinton's watch. No wonder Rather's ratings have plummeted. The same week, Bill O'Reilly could be heard arguing the virtues of sectarian government during the Dark Ages while Rush Limbaugh lectured American women on the evils of birth control and Planned Parenthood. Josef Goebbels would have envied both sides in this war on truth.

Twisting facts and selectively quoting history constitute propaganda, not news, and is done at the expense of truth and fairness. The liberal news media yearn for the good old days of Camelot, a fiction they themselves created, while zealous right-wing radio propagandists preach unconditional obedience to an imperial presidency, something the Founding Fathers abhorred. The broadcast media has become so hopelessly polarized that neither side can be trusted to interpret facts and report them objectively. Both sides are so convinced of their righteousness that neither can recognize the harm done to the American public by their reckless bias. Thank goodness for newspapers.

WILL RICHARDSON

Jackson