(2002-05-08) c

Adam Curry [on](http://live.curry.com/stories/2002/05/08/theBig Lie.html) The Big Lie Of The Day (not just about Pim Fortuyn): I've been in the public eye for more than 18 years, in Europe and the US. I've enjoyed fame and recognition, which comes at a price. That price isn't privacy, as many would have you believe, the price is the cost of the truth. I've been interviewed hundreds of times. By broadcasters, publications, newspapers, magazines, school papers. You name it, they's interviewed me. Not once, ever, has the result been factually correct... Without fail all three major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) labeled Pim Fortuyn as ultra right and/or racist... Our task here is to ensure the truth remains openly exposed. We have the tools to do this. This WebLog alone is already making a dent in the misperceptions of Pim and the political climate in the Netherlands. And that happens through collaboration and information flow... The Big Lie is all around us... The 4 hours you as an average citizen spend in front of the television (TV) is what keeps the general popualtion shackled to the teet of the beast. You are not relaxing when you watch, you are being fed. This is the most important/Subversive piece I've read in a long time.

Andrew Long makes a similar point by dissecting a Ny Times (MarliseSimons) article. And that, folks, is how character assassination works. No, you don't have to lie (although you can get away with it). You don't have to be one-sided (even though that's the norm these days anyway). You can even tell the truth somewhere in the story, like this article did. The result, whether intentional (most likely) or not (highly doubtful, as the intelligent Journalist-s working for the "paper of record" or undoubtedly the most highly coveted in their field), is an insidious form of sludge-slinging that works to exterminate the voices of those who dare to disagree with established opinion.