WCCO's Esme Murphy & Liz Collin: classic examples of shoddy journalism

by: The Big E

Mon Mar 29, 2010 at 17:04:00 PM CDT

WCCO's Esme Murphy interviewed Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on her morning show.  As usual, it was apparent that Murphy hadn't done any research or hadn't been paying attention.  If she had she might have asked some tough questions about the lies that Bachmann told her.  Instead, Murphy let Bachmann lie.

Then Liz Collin did a piece on the evening news about how Franken and Bachmann are on the opposites sides of the political divide on healthcare reform.  Yet, Collin fails to note that Bachmann repeated a number of debunked lies on Murphy's show and that everything Franken said is verifiably true.

Do "journalists" have an obligation to confront politicians who lie to them?  Do "journalists" have an obligation to analyze the truth of what a politician claims?

Murphy must not believe so.  She will let any Republican on her show and let them tell any lie they'd like to tell.  And, apparently, not Collin, either.  WCCO's Reality Check is sadly a rare example of actual political journalism in MN.

Here's my point.  The Minnesota media has never confronted Bachmann on her lies, conspiracy theories and ties to the national evangelical movement.

Judging by Murphy's continued behavior, they never will.

Here's an example of actual journalists doing there job (strangely enough at nat'l CBS):

In the past when talking about the health care bill that was just signed into law by President Obama, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has referred to the bill as "tyranny."

On Sunday, she told "Face the Nation" anchor Bob Schieffer she meant it.

"[N]ow we have the federal government taking over ownership or control of 51 percent of the American economy. This is stunning. Prior to September of 2008, 100 percent of the private economy was private."

Ms. Bachmann offered no facts to back up her assertion that the government owns or controls 51 percent of the U.S. economy.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis data since 1929, the highest percentage of government spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product was during World War II when government spending was 47.9 percent (in 1944). The lowest level of government spending as a percent of GDP was 9 percent in 1929 at the outset of the Great Depression.

At no time during this period was the United States' GDP 100 percent private.

The 2009 level of federal government spending was 20.6 percent.
(CBS)

To bad that WCCO cannot live up to the standards of the national CBS.