Jeff Jarvis Endorses "Fake but Accurate"

Jeff Jarvis writes a post criticizing Tim Russert for asking pointed questionsof Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard about his false story of how the Feds being responsible for the death of a 92 year old woman in a Louisiana nursing home during Hurricane Katrina. Money graf:

Too much of journalism is turning this way today: If we nitpick the facts and follow some rules some committee wrote up, we’ll be safe; we’re doing our jobs. No, sir, our job is to get more than the facts. Anybody can get facts. Facts are the commodity. The truth is harder to find. Justice is harder to fight for. Lessons are what we’re after.

Mr Jarvis fails to comprehend that facts in many cases are not so easy to get. Many of the controversial issues of the day are controversial (at least in part) because we are unable to agree what the facts are. Abortion is an example, becuase we are still unable to determine when life begins.

Facts are the building blocks of truth, as logic and reason is the mortar. You can't have truth without them and those who misuse and abuse facts should be called on it, even when you agree with them.