I Know Just How You Feel

From Howard Kurtz's live chat today (about this):

Ashland, Mo.: Wouldn't everyone be better off if the media concentrated on whether reporting is accurate rather than who is doing it or how it is produced? Information might be on a blog or on a conservative network or on NPR, but shouldn't the accuracy of the content be the sole guide? Even if information is paid for, does that disqualify it from being accurate? Plenty of free media in this country is inaccurate. If you can only get accurate information placed by paying for it, why not, if the alternative is a misinformed public making decisions on the basis of the misinformation?

Howard Kurtz: Depends on the meaning of the word accurate. If a supposedly journalistic "story" is actually written by U.S. military officials or a government contractor, it's certainly possible that the individual facts will be correct. But it may still be totally one-sided, slanted, or leave out contradictory information--in other words, propaganda.

Yep--that's a problem alright. And military writers do that too?

Government press releases are usually "accurate," but hardly journalism. And would you want to rely on press releases for your news?

Well? Would you?