Angry in the Great White North

There has been a story developing the US about an ex-Marine Jimmy Massey who has become an anti-war darling with his accusations of wanton slaughter being perpetrated by American forces in Iraq under orders from high up.

If you've been following the story via bloggers, you'd know that Massey's claims have been thoroughly debunked by reporters who were embedded with Massey's unit when these incidents allegedly occured.

If you've been following the story via the media, that would come as a surprise to you, because for the main stream media, the issue was not whether Massey was telling the truth. Here USA Today reporter Rick Hampson explains why the truth doesn't matter:

I personally have no plans for a follow up. Our story was not so much about the veracity of Massey's claims -- few if any of those mentioned in the Post-Dispatch piece were in our story -- as the reaction in a small, patriotic town to its former Marine recruiter coming back as a war protester.

Got that? This is not about the truth. It's about reactions. It's about emotions.

Actually, he doesn't use the word "truth". Imagine if he had said "Our story was not so much about the truth of Massey's claims..." Sounds a lot worse. Talk about veracity, and avoid using the T-word.

Since when did "truth" become a four-letter word?

Interestingly, we're also treated to an interview with another famous media personality who has had trouble with the T-word. Mary Mapes is, as we all know, the ex-producer fired from CBS for Killian Memo fiasco in September 2004:

In her first interview since being fired, former CBS News producer Mary Mapes maintains that her controversial "60 Minutes II" story on President Bush's National Guard service was "true" and that "no one has proved that the documents were not authentic."

The documents have been proven to be frauds beyond any shadow of a doubt, on the basis of fonts, on their style, and on their substance. The memos were not true.

Nevertheless, fellow main stream media outlet ABC felt the need to put the word "true" in quotes, to make certain that everyone understands that Mapes was using the T-word.

Mapes goes on:

Mapes says she is continuing to investigate the source of the controversial documents whose authenticity was seriously questioned by the CBS panel. She tells Ross that she had no journalistic obligation to prove the authenticity of the documents before including them in the "60 Minutes II" report. "I don't think that's the standard," she said.

No obligation to show that the memos were real? No need to show that they were true? It's not part of the standard?

I guess the T-word is really a four-letter word for much of the media today.