Network Media Lies
Dr. Michael L. Ford
15 July 2005
	Recognizing accounts of events are often difficult
for the people who experience them. This has been a
common phenomenon in my lifetime. Recently I
corresponded with a friend on the front lines of the
battle for freedom in Iraq about a particular
incident. These words are his unedited: 
“I really appreciated this, though I think many
Americans would not recognize the significance as the
news media makes it look like it is Iraqis fighting
us. What few Iraqis have been fighting us have been
found to be fighting for money and not a cause. Most
of what we are dealing with are insurgents who sneak
in on over the border from Syria, etc…”
	This professional soldier’s comments are not from an
observer with a negative personal agenda, but from a
man dealing with the situation every day. He ought to
know of what he speaks. You see, his life and the
lives of the men in his charge depend on his being
fully aware of his situation, including who his enemy
is. Granted he does have a personal agenda greater
than even life itself called “God, Honor, Country.”
That is the kind of purpose foreign to the network
personalities seen on the nightly news broadcasts.
	Unfortunately, the things that motivate my military
friend and so many like him are foreign to many of
those who darken the halls of Congress as well as the
networks. I speak of those who collude with subversive
“reporters” to undermine the war effort. They seek to
gain some advantage for their agenda even though it
damages the very security of the Nation. With their
invented “facts” and the abilities of the
propagandists of the journalistic left many people
across America have been deceived.
	Listening closely to major networks recently I
noticed two common ways of subtle fact twisting that
are not quite outright lying. These people use the
methods continually but most listeners are unaware. 
The first of these is in the choices of words,
particularly adjectives. The descriptive tools of
language are used to influence opinion so hearers will
think the way the pundits want. The second is in the
way words are said. The most common use of
vocalization is to convey an idea that says, “I do not
believe this and neither should you.” These ways of
lying are often the best tools of expert liars.