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Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
Journalists, bloggers, talk radio can learn from Lawton story
Erik Gunn writes about this week’s Barbara Lawton story that was later retracted. Gunn quotes Katy Culver of the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication:
"We are in an age where we have a mass media means of rumor-mongering. The Internet can amplify things that have no basis in truth in ways that we never would have imagined when I was in a newsroom 20 years ago. So reporting has to keep up. Mainstream journalism has to keep up and recognize that this may not be a question we would have asked about 20 years ago. But if this rumor is out in the public sphere, it may be something we have a responsibility to ask about now."
I have written in the past about the danger of bloggers who post rumors and innuendo and flat out lies. The same holds true for comments left on blogs. I don’t see this problem going away.
For the record, this blogger made no mention of the sensational claim made against
Also, Gunn notes that several conservative bloggers ran with the original allegations against
Yes, journalists, bloggers, talk radio can learn from this week's Lawton story. But will they?
UPDATE: Broadcast veteran Tim Morrisey offers the same advice (lecture?) about reporting the truth, but then opines:
“I think Jerry got ‘spun’ by some Republican operatives, who fed him a line of BS and he unfortunately believed them, and aired it.”
Excuse me?
Morrisey wags his finger, admonishing all to be honest, then he throws out this unfounded stuff?
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