“Fact-check anything and everything… you can assume the journalist didn’t.”
I’ve always tried to get my news from what I thought were reliable sources (LA Times, NY Times, W. Post, etc.) and therefore assumed I was getting the straight scoop. After 10 or 15 years in the business I’m in, though, I kept noticing articles about my field that I knew were inaccurate. Not just spun one way or another (although there is certainly plenty of that), but factually inaccurate. It then occurred to me that, if they’re getting those stories wrong, then obviously they’re getting plenty of other stories wrong, and I have no way of knowing it.
Yes, I agree, the media can’t be counted on. Or, for whoever said he was anal about such things, should I say, the media are not things on which we can count. Or, since it’s way past my bedtime and I’m probably rambling, should I just delete this entire post.