Fact-Based Reporting  

     What happened to it? Sharyl Attkisson's book, "Slanted, How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism."  

First of 5 

     In an interview, the five-time Emmy Award winner said, "Over time, I saw what I call the smear industry and the narrative industry. I'm talking about corporations, PR firms, crisis management firms, nonprofits, and political people. I saw them become part of the newsrooms.

     "There's a trend...to make stories come out a certain way regardless of the facts. One of the unique things is that so many executives and journalists spoke candidly about what I call the death of the news as we once knew it and were equally as critical. These executives and reporters and producers are from ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, all kinds of places. 

     "If they see some of the same issues we do, why is it happening? Good journalism is being drowned out by special interests, corporate interests and political interests. 

     "There are an increasing number of people at news organizations who may not say to themselves - 'I want to pedal a lie' - but they are simply propagandists who put forth a certain view. If that requires half-truth or a lie, they're perfectly happy to do that.

     "A lot of people doing what they call reporting are really no more than political operatives or corporate interests disguised as reporters who have no intention of providing accurate information." 

To be continued