RTFA: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/10/0218…

I’m not familiar with columnist Orson Scott Card, but his open letter to journalists is must reading. It appeared first in The Rhinoceros Times of Greensboro, North Carolina. Via InstaPundit:

This housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans. …

… back to Power Line’s editorializing:

But the mainstream media–which is to say, most reporters and editors who work for “mainstream” news organizations–have no honor and are not interested in truth. They are, as Card says, “the public relations machine of the Democratic Party.” It’s time to accept that fact and move on. Our existing news organizations–the New York Times, the Associated Press, [FOX], NBC, CNN, CBS, and so on–can’t be reformed, they can only be ignored. It is time for conservatives, libertarians, moderates, and normal citizens who are interested in straightforward reporting of the news to build their own news organizations in competition with the corrupt ones that now exist.

(emphasis mine – and I added another mainstream news organization)

Listen: I read power line all the time, and I usually consider their work to be pretty rigorous. However, this is unbelievable! Orson Scott Card is the author of Ender’s Game, one of the most notable science fiction books of all time!

From Wikipedia:

Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951)[1] is a bestselling American author, critic, political writer and speaker. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender’s Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the only author to win both of science fiction’s top prizes in consecutive years.

It’s hilarious, too, that the context of Card’s article involves the disintegration of the mainstream media. Talk about fact-checking: how do you start off a piece with the disclaimer that you have no idea who Card is? I’m not going to step up for bloggers and amateur journalism in this debate; Card has a point, but it’s clear that bloggers don’t have the complete solution. There are exceptions, but Power Line isn’t exceptional with their coverage of Card’s article.

There’s a common saying about “living in a glass house” – so I’ll stop here and do some backtracking: the reason RTFA is called RTFA comes down to a single promise: I read the articles I post, and I put the link first so that you will read the article too. I need some help from you: post a comment when the source is bad. If my analysis is bad, post your analysis. Any link to any post on RTFA includes the comments – they’re part of the content.

Regarding Card’s article, it’s definitely interesting. I want to know more about the subprime lending crisis, and I want someone who has the time to really research the issue. I’m skeptical that Card has the facts straight – in criticizing the MSM, he makes a bunch of unsubstantiated claims. However, I am pretty sure some of his claims are solid (e.g. that this financial crisis can be blamed on Democrats too, citing Senators Dodd and Frank).

*sigh* In the words of McCain, we’re angry. Angry. And scared. And Angry! Rabble rabble rabble. Is the solution a new news organization? …or is it more a matter of the signal to noise ratio? We’re angry. And LOUD. Rabble rabble rabble!