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Truth's Worst Enemy
 by Mischa Gelman

  There is an archaic tradition in this country which states that
journalists should be honest, accurate and objective, a rule many follow
even in this age of tabloid media. Unfortunately, many others seem to feel
their duty is to lie, distort and mislead in favor of their ideology. A
great example is ABC's lying libertarian, John Stossel.
  What's most frightening about Mr. Stossel is that he just can't admit
when he's wrong, even when trapped by truth seekers. His rebuttals (when
offered) merely tack on even more lies. For instance, the media watchdog
group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) confronted Stossel
regarding eight major errors in his special "Is America # One?." His reply
in this instance consisted of his changing his claims (though the new
claims were just as inaccurate generally), redefining common words
(whereby annual growth of over 8% is seen as a "stagnant" economy) and
ignoring facts that run counter to his arguments (for instance, statistics
that show that America does not have the greatest economic mobility or
that show that thousands of poor Americans don't receive emergency medical
care) and in general showing off a typical mindset of libertarian
arrogance - basically my mind's made up, don't bother me with the facts.
  There is even sometimes some humor to be found in Stossel's dishonesty -
for instance, when he complains about the failures of American public
schools by getting basic facts wrong. He claimed that 49% of public
school students graduate - the actual percentage is over 75. He
claimed that 54% of teachers have a masters degree - in reality, it's
45% This is a man we should trust on issues of education? If he'd rather
have us all be ignorant libertarians, I'd prefer the current public
education system. Of course, it isn't just ignorance at work - whenever
Stossel gets a statistic wrong, his errors always land in favor of his
view. Odd, huh?
  Stossel, like many corporate apologists, prefers anecdote to cold hard
fact. In a segment on OSHA guidelines, he can only offer anecdotes - while
an OSHA official he interviews fills in the fact - a 50% decline in
workplace fatalities since OSHA's founding. When statistics show that the
media tends to be more conservative than most Americans on economic
issues, Stossel uses a 10-year old movie and 30-year old cartoon to claim
a negative bias exists. At least it's fitting - Stossel himself sometimes
sounds like a 30-year old cartoon, given his melodramatic outlook on life
where businesses can do no harm and government can do no good.
  Mr. Stossel also seems to take special pleasure in presenting just one
side of a story. In his economics piece, he gives prominent air time to
just one populist critic, radio talk show host Jim Hightower. In his piece
on organic farming, he relied primarily on Dennis Avery, who gives talks
on "Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastics" instead of relying
upon actual scientific research. Avery is, like Stossel, a born liar,
claiming the Centers for Disease Control showed a greater E.Coli risk from
organic foods - while the CDC itself says the facts don't support Avery's
conclusion. Guess who gives Avery lots of money? Agribusiness interests
that love pesticides. In a special called "Greed" he again gives
dissenting views just one limited voice - Ted Turner, a greedy individual.
  Even when tossed softball questions by sympathetic interviewers, he
still manages to not only lie, but contradict himself several times. In an
interview with WorldNetDaily, Stossel said "Also, I make these speeches,
and I don't take money for the speeches and I give the money to charity
and somehow they turn that against me -- because some of the money I gave
to this "Stossel in the Classroom" project." Um, Mr. Stossel, if you don't
take money from the speeches, how do you have money from them to give
away? Which one is it? Also, how is it charity to give money to programs
that exist only to boost your own ego and reputation?
  Stossel made news this summer when he finally admitted he lied in a
story. In his organic farming commentary, he was relying upon tests that
in actuality had never been done. Instead of his usual distortion of
actual facts, he just decided to make it up as he went along. So, on my
birthday, after months of protests, he admitted it...and continued to
lie by claiming organic farming leads to an increased risk of E.Coli when
no such studies had ever been done, and when organic standards limit
E.Coli risk in comparison to pesticide farming. 
  John Stossel says that "All we have in this business is our credibility
- you trust that we get it right." If all Mr. Stossel has is his
credibility, then we should pity a man with nothing.

  Mischa Gelman is glad Mr. Stossel's pieces tend to run on Friday, as he
cannot watch television then,