Partial screen capture from PolitiFact.com/PunditFact/ Dec. 18, 2015 |
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a pictorial editorial.
It's not an unaltered photograph of Donald Trump. It's not a photo at all. It is an artist's rendering of Donald Trump, created to communicate an editorial message to PunditFact's readers. Note how Trump's fingers are crossed as he speaks, a traditional gesture of those who know they are speaking falsely.
Material like this makes PunditFact itself a pundit of sorts.
We've long noted the fact that PolitiFact and its various franchises blur the traditional line between straight news reporting--what some might expect from journalism billed as "fact-checking"--and editorializing. That's why we call PolitiFact "the Fox News of fact-checking" and PolitiFact staffers "liberal bloggers."
Their journalism is not objective. When PolitiFact creator Bill Adair calls fact checking a "new form of journalism" perhaps he has in mind that deliberate blurring of the lines.
Or not. Either way, we don't appreciate it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks to commenters who refuse to honor various requests from the blog administrators, all comments are now moderated. Pseudonymous commenters who do not choose distinctive pseudonyms will not be published, period. No "Anonymous." No "Unknown." Etc.