A new website (http://www.idontbelievethestate.com) has recently appeared on the Internet. Apparently its purpose is to blog the bias and inaccuracy of The Other Paper, a daunting task. Here is a sample from Friday, April 8, 2005:

The State to Facts: Drop Dead

Have you ever heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve? Well, The State wears its bias in its headlines. And subheadlines. And the body of its articles.

Yesterday, the Put Parents in Charge act passed out of subcommittee. It’s a fairly simple story. Here’s the headline from an article in the Greenville News:

House subcommittee passes school tax credit bill

And here’s the headline from The State:

Tuition tax credit bill now faces stern test

And the subheadline from America’s Worst Newspaper:

Panel OKs plan, but Ways and Means’ approval uncertain

Now it should be obvious to anyone who can read English that the first headline is descriptive and the second one (and its sub) is speculative. The Greenville News ’s headline deals with facts that have already happened while The State insists on using their magic powers of ESP to predict what will happen in the future.

And yes, this garbage continues throughout the article. The State “reporter” Jennifer Talhelm isn’t content to simply report on the results of the vote or analyze the testimony before the subcommittee. Rather, she extrapolates from the fact that the measure has passed subcommittee by saying, “But momentum appears to be against the proposal. Rep. Jim McGee, R–Florence, said Thursday he wasn’t sure whether the bill had the votes to get out of committee.”

So passing subcommittee is now a sign that you’re losing momentum? Very interesting. Here’s the question: Is Jennifer Talhelm really this dumb, or does she just assume that about her readers?

Posted by Bill Smith at 9:46 am