We complain a lot here about news organizations being slow learners - letting politicians run circles around them and responding only with "fair and balanced" stories that are, as a result, unfair and out of balance. The NYT is a frequent easy mark for unscrupulous politicians.
CNBC is among the slow learners, but they show signs of learning.
CNBC headline of May 24:
"GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy believes an alleged computer hack by Qatar agents led to the exposure of his affair with Playboy Playmate"
CNBC headline of May 25:
"GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy says an alleged computer hack by Qatar agents led to the exposure of his affair with Playboy Playmate"
Bold emphasis was added. "Believes" means that we, CNBC, can safely report that Broidy is telling us the truth - that we know this as sure as we know the sun rose this morning. But that is simply not the case. We do not know that he is telling the truth about what he knows and believes. In fact, we have every reason to suspect he is lying as noted previously: "When News Becomes Opinion and Opinion Becomes News " which was followed up in "The Incredible Lightness of Minimalism".
There is an inherent contradiction in the standard journalistic minimalism approach. On the one had, we are extremely careful not to speculate, nay, not even to consider possible logical conclusions to events which are inflammatory unless they can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. On the other had, in the case of those individuals who might come under suspicion in those very same inflammatory cases, we happily post headlines that "So-and-so believes X" on occasions where So-and-so says X because to do otherwise would not be "fair and balanced". (Even though, to do otherwise, would be to faithfully report facts rather than to report claims of fact.)
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