COMM 150: Of zookeepers, 'makin' things up' and public debate -- FINAL EXAM CONTENT ADVISORY

Here's something I saw in the news today that might make a good question for the final exam ... and will certainly give us something to think about when we take up media law, ethics and societal effects after Thanksgiving.

Thomas Friedman's latest op-ed column in the New York Times praises CNN announcer Anderson Cooper for fact-checking what Friedman called a "bogus rumor that President Obama’s trip to Asia would cost $200 million a day."

Which qualifies Friedman for my zookeeper-of-the-week award.

The rumor was a estimate that President Obama's trip to Asia cost $200 million a day. It apparently traces back to a local politician in India, but it was picked up by U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., and high-profile right-wing commentators including Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. It was not only false, but ludicrous on its face. Cooper tracked it down, and suggested the cost would be more like $5 million a day (still a pretty good hunk of change). Friedman said:

When widely followed public figures feel free to say anything, without any fact-checking, we have a problem. It becomes impossible for a democracy to think intelligently about big issues — deficit reduction, health care, taxes, energy/climate — let alone act on them. Facts, opinions and fabrications just blend together. But the carnival barkers that so dominate our public debate today are not going away — and neither is the Internet. All you can hope is that more people will do what Cooper did — so when the next crazy lie races around the world, people’s first instinct will be to doubt it, not repeat it.

I think he's right about that. As Jon Stewart once said, sometimes you've gotta have a zookeeper say "Bad monkey!"

(Recall the zookeeper question on the midterm? Would that give us a context for our discussion after Thanksgiving? Would it make a good final exam question? Either a 25- point or, focused this time on law and ethics, even a 50-point question.)

Of course, monkeys on both sides of the aisle -- uh, zoo -- sometimes need to be admonished. Former Alaska Gov. Sahrah Palin blasted what she calls the "lamestream" or mainstream media in her farewell speech in Fairbanks, Alaska, when she quit the office in 2009. SHe said:

“Some straight talk for some — just some — in the media. … You represent what could and should be a respected, honest profession that could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy. Democracy depends on you. That is why our troops are willing to die for you. So how about in honor of the American soldier, ya’ quit makin’ things up?”

Of course, Palin has has her own challenges with the facts -- or, more precisely, with selective -- and misleading -- quotation.