http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/358Submitted by meg on Tue, 08/19/2008 - 2:51pm. Analysis
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White
One of the favorite adages of journalists was once, "If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out." Now it seems that we've shifted to "I read it in a best-selling non-fiction book; it must be true... oh, it's not? Well, who cares."
Jerome Corsi's new, widely discredited book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality sustained its number one spot on The New York Times bestseller list yet again this week. And for some reason, I find myself thinking of the waves of untruths that have passed through the hands of editors of late.
In 2006, James Frey's A Million Little Pieces sat atop the bestseller list for 15 weeks and was a selection for Oprah's Book Club. Thanks to revelations from The Smoking Gun, the book was shown to be a lie. Since Frey didn't have the passion of a political campaign backing him, his book is now printed with author's and publisher's notes. Random House even agreed to compensate some readers for the lies.