CNN: The Most Trusted Name In News?

By Robert Paul Reyes

I write an editorial column for a real newspaper, the kind that leaves ink stains on your hands. My essays are proofread by the editor, and vetted by the legal department.

I also write opinion pieces for several Websites, and I don't consider bloggers or Internet columnists inferior to their print counterparts.

I know that there's a lot of misinformation on the Web, but my online editors are experienced journalists who do their best to maintain the accuracy and integrity of their Websites.

I admit that some online news sites sometimes publish wildly inaccurate stories, but the mainstream media is also capable of making embarrassing mistakes.

The image of the Fox News anchor, Shepard Smith, declaring the death of Pope John Paul II a day early is still fresh on my mind.

And just yesterday CNN made a real whopper:

"The Cable News Network (CNN), a few moments after 1 pm ET today, reported that the Supreme Court of California ruled against marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Just one small problem: They didn't bother to read the whole ruling before reporting the story.

While the Court determined by a 4-3 vote that the City and County of San Francisco acted unlawfully by issuing 4,037 marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, it ultimately issued a win for such couples in California, ruling that the existing domestic partnership law was insufficient, and that barring gay couples from civil marriage was unconstitutional." [ PageOneQ.Com ]

Journalism 101: Read the entire document in question, before reporting on its significance.

Some folks read only the first couple of paragraphs of one of my articles, and then sent me an email castigating me for not supporting abortion or gay rights, when in fact my essay was pro-gay rights or pro-choice.

An anchor for an all-news cable network should be more diligent than an ignorant Bozo who gets a kick out of lambasting online columnists.

"CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin said that "...there's going to be a contingency of people and a contingent that are very unhappy with the decision." Quotation from PageOneQ.Com

There's an even larger contingent of people who are unhappy with CNN for getting such an important news story so dreadfully wrong.

Fox News is often ridiculed for their "Fair and Balanced" slogan, but CNN is not living up to its motto, "The Most Trusted Name in News."

California Supreme Court Rules in Marriage Cases

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