Checksum Arcanius

Browsing the newspaper today (Seattle Times), I came across the following: “Oklahoma routs Colorado 35-0 in Big 12 Championship.”

Which isn’t true.

Ok, they got the winner right, but I watched that game. The score was 42-3.

In many circumstances when I know better, I have noticed errors like this in newspapers, both large and small. For things of this nature, where there is no reason for them to report it wrong, I’m sure that its just inattention to detail, tight deadlines, or not really caring about the subject in this case. Nevertheless, it does lead me to wonder how badly things could get messed up – especially when there is a bias because the reporter cares about the topic one way or another.

Every time this happens, I use it to remind myself that just because I’ve only heard one version of a story, that doesn’t mean I know the truth. I have seen wrong dates by ten years, outright false information about an organization, quotes that were never uttered, statistics twisted to suit a purpose (even I have done this), and all of these in newspapers who claim their job is to provide accurate, unbiased information (as I read on the Seattle P-I opinion page just before the election, they think the rest of the pages have no particulat bias).

So just remember, even if you heard it somewhere, it doesn’t make it true, or even close in many cases.

Sure, I listen to conservative talk radio sometimes (and get pissed off when Michael Medved talks about how government becoming involved in the definition of marriage is somehow justified when government becoming involved in finances is not), but I also listen to liberal talk radio (not Air America, mind you, but Kiro’s Erin Hart and Mike Webb (who is, by the way, the only talk show host I’m talked to on the air (how do you like these triple parentheses!))).

I encourage you to do the same. You liberals out there who make a habit out of Mother Jones or The Atlantic, take the chance to read National Review sometime. If you saw and loved Fareinheit 9/11, go watch Fareinhype 9/11, go read 59 deciets in Farenheit 9/11. And you conservatives who have seen and read these things without ever seeing the orginal, now is the time. Now is the time to pick up a liberal magazine and read the other side. It won’t hurt you, I promise.

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