CBS lies about explosives case

Old fossils like me remember when you could trust CBS. But just since Occupy started, this is about the zillionth story in which CBS or one of its owned-and-operated stations has been caught smearing Occupy - and it's bound to continue for as long as the FCC lets it.

Recently, a New York couple was arrested when a cache of illegal weapons and explosives was allegedly found in their apartment. Rupert Murdoch's far-right New York Post promptly claimed that the male half of the couple was part of Occupy Wall Street. But that was a lie. The New York Police Department even told reporters on the record that there was no reason to think he was part of Occupy.

When the Post lied about this, the Associated Press and Reuters promptly picked up this lie and reported it as fact. They dared not question the Post's credibility. But the AP and Reuters were later forced to issue a retraction when the Post's claim was debunked.

The New York Post isn't widely trusted among the general public. The tabloid is primarily geared to the same neorightist blowhards as Fox News and most of talk radio. But what about when a respected outlet like CBS goes ahead and spreads the Post's lie days after it was discredited? That's exactly what happened. CBS This Morning dug in on the Post's baseless fib.

CBS reporter Seth Doane even interviewed a discredited police official who was associated with the NYPD's illegal surveillance of Muslims.

This is completely unacceptable. The FCC used to take a very dim view of TV and radio stations distorting the news. If the FCC was still as tough as it was in the '70s at enforcing this policy, CBS would be out of the broadcasting business - along with most of the other major American broadcast players.

(Source: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/01/more_misreporti.php)