Lazy Journalists Spreading Myths: A Letter to Monica Yant Kinney

calling bullshit, media, war, writing June 4th, 2007

Monica Yant Kinney is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. I don’t read her column all that much, but that’s not due to Kinney, who I find to be an entertaining and engaging writer. Her column about the paper’s new publisher Brian Tierney was a great look at the man’s character (or lack thereof). She’s no Paul Krugman or Bob Herbert, but pleasant enough.

However, this week’s column on Cindy Sheehan was marred by one of the worst instincts in contemporary journalism: the spreading of falsehoods that have come to be accepted by the conventional wisdom. In this case, it was an unnecessary and untrue characterization of Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela who supposedly “hates America”. As I’ve written before, this simply isn’t true. So I wrote to Ms. Kinney: no response yet.

Dear Monica,

In an otherwise good article about Sue Niederer, you engaged in some gratuitous and ill-informed Chavez-bashing.

“And what in the world was a Gold Star mother doing hanging out with Venezuela’s America-hating leader, Hugo Chavez?”

Really? Chavez hates America?

I guess that explains why CITGO, the state-owned petroleum company of Venezuela, provides hundreds of thousands of gallons of discount fuel for the poor in America’s cities, including Philadelphia. I guess that also explains why Venezuela actually INCREASED the amount of fuel they provide this year. And I guess that explains why representative Chaka Fattah helped secure Philadelphia on the list of cities receiving oil, because if there’s anyone Chaka Fattah
stands with, it’s people who hate America. And I guess that ALSO explains why Venezuela released nearly 2,000,000 gallons of gasoline to the US in the wake of Katrina (which I don’t believe any other nation
offered). More here.

I think you’re confusing “Bush” and “America”. In fact, they’re not the same. Mr. Chavez does not hate America: his actions with regard to our poor and the victims of Hurricane Katrina speak volumes (given that Katrina’s refugees are STILL homeless and the city has NOT been rebuilt, I might even argue that Hugo did
more for NOLA’s residents than our federal government). It is Mr. Bush that Chavez does not like, which puts Hugo in the company of the majority of Americans.

What is troubling is the knee-jerk tendency for writers like you to casually pass along myths that have no basis in fact. It was precisely this kind of failure to check facts (pardon the assumption, but just a few minutes on google would have demonstrated that Chavez’s actions and policies directly contradict your flat statement regarding “America-hating”) is the
same failure that led us into war with Iraq over imaginary WMD, where Sue Niederer’s child died.

A retraction is in order. Or maybe you could write a column about why Citgo’s fuel assistance is a bad thing for Philadelphians and is encouraging America hatred.
Brendan Skwire

I think tying in the Niederer article to my larger theme was a pretty good device. Whaddya think?

One Response to “Lazy Journalists Spreading Myths: A Letter to Monica Yant Kinney”

  1. Brendan Calling - I hear the voices, and I read the front page, and I know the speculation. But I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. » Richard Cohen: Apologist for Felons, and Total Moron. Also, a Meditation on Responsibility Says:
    June 19th, 2007 at 11:58 am

    [...] with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Monica Yant Kinney: as regular readers may recall, I was critical of her recent column in which she called out Cindy Sheehan for associating with “Venezuela’s America-hating [...]

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