Letter of the Day: Yellow journalism

Yellow journalism

EDITOR: It is a shame when a candidate takes a well-meaning statement by the president, turns it on its head to mean the exact opposite of its content, repeats the edited version and runs it in misleading ads. What is worse is when an editorial cartoonist repeats that lie. What is the very worst thing is when editors of a usually honest newspaper decide to run that syndicated cartoon as if there was an iota of truth to it. No wonder Americans view the mainstream media with a jaundiced eye.

President Barack Obama never said or implied that small businesses did not create their own businesses. Too bad The Press Democrat didn't report the full quote from which this lie was born: "Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. "

As anyone can see, the "that" was referring to roads, bridges, the Internet, not small businesses. Mitt Romney flips that statement on its head, Scott Stantis further distorts it, and The Press Democrat prints it.

Is yellow journalism alive and well and living in Santa Rosa?

JOHN M. KEARNS

Healdsburg