Excellent! But why haven't we seen this on tv? What happened when you showed Pallywood to 60 minutes?

True, but I think that this orthodoxy is also largely controlled by people's personal perferences - people tend to watch the television shows and read the newspapers that they agree with and which confirm their opinions. Part of this is also the media knowing their market, however I think that very few would admit to the herd mentality, since as journalists they (and society) see themselves as the most liberal and free-thinking. Either way, jouralist choosing reader, and reader choosing journalist, the result is the same (not that I'm denying the intial formative effects of media).

Much of the problem here comes from journalists who simply don't know much about what they are reporting on. As an example of journalists who do, consider sports reporting. I am not a fan, but I am always impressed by how much the reporters know and how they are able to relate what they see in a particular situation to the rest of the sport. We should demand similar expertise of the journalists who report on "important" matters.

The New York Times, for example, rotates reporters on different "beats". So, after a reporter has learned the history and issues of an area, developed favorite sources, and can write a more informed story than what was handed to them in a press release, the reporter is transferred to new duties. Here in Boston, WCVB-TV "reported" on the arrest of two Worster police officers by using the District Attorney's press release. The two are body building enthusiasts charged with distribution and sale of the human growth hormone stimulating chemical sodium oxybate which is legally sold as prescription Xyrem for treatment of narcolepsy. The DA used the other chemical name, GHB, and new DEA stigmatization of "date rape drug" and floor cleaner (also legal) instead. I can excuse a reporter for ignorance and deadlines, but not hearing both sides of the story and using a perjoritive "date rape drug" is inexcuseable besides inaccurate. The salty taste of sodium oxybate is not consistant with the claimed use. So, local reporting is bad enough. I wouldn't claim foreign reporters are worse.