Out of Cheese

The British and Canadian media have been running stories about the truth behind the Jessica Lynch rescue for a few days now, but the American press steadfastly ignored them and stuck to the Pentagon’s story. Finally, the U.S. media is coming around. Three days ago, the Chicago Tribune ran a story describing why Lynch’s rescue wasn’t necessary at all and casting serious doubt on the tale of the gunfight with Iraqi soldiers that allegedly led to her capture. Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer is running the Tribune story, slightly modified, on its front page.

Recently, when journalists have talked about the media they’ve focused on the story of Jayson Blair, the New York Times writer who falsified many of his facts and plagiarized others. Perhaps the Lynch revelations will prompt some in the industry to realize that false facts don’t only come from nonexistent sources. Fact-checking is critical if the media are to be trusted. It’d certainly be nice if the major news outlets acknowledged that once in a while.