Here's an example of why Keith Olbermann has become my favorite TV newsguy. You've probably all read about the revelation today that some senior official in the Bush administration "outed" Valerie Plame Wilson to super-reporter Bob Woodward before the time that Lewis "Scooter" Libby is alleged to have told another reporter about her. Almost all the news sources out there are quoting Libby's lawyer as saying…
[Woodward's] disclosure shows that Mr. Fitzgerald's statement at his press conference of October 28, 2005 that Mr. Libby was the first government official to tell a reporter about Mr. Wilson's wife was totally inaccurate.
Which would make Fitzgerald wrong if he'd actually said that. On the Countdown show today on MSNBC, Olbermann played the actual tape of Fitzgerald's statement at that press conference. And what Fitzgerald said was…
Mr. Libby was the first government official known to have told a reporter about Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife.
Not exactly the same thing. And this is the kind of thing reporters ought to catch. Every time anyone in the news misquotes someone or twists provable facts, the press ought to point that out instead of just letting it pass. Too many newspeople have just gotten into the habit of letting everyone have their say and not holding it to any standard of accuracy. That's not covering the news. It's just turning over your cameras and microphones to the newsmakers.