Young Reporter: Did you ever get the feeling when working on a story that one side is lying to you?
Editor: Sure. It happens all the time. Maybe they both are. But our job is to report both sides and the reader decides where the truth is.
That was true fifty years ago when I was asked that question, and it's just as true today. The difference is that many politicians are flagrant in their lies, and they make no effort to disguise them.
One example is the propaganda voiced by many Republicans that the events of one year ago were really peaceful demonstrations by Trump supporters, or were riotous protests by radical leftist opponents.
The name-calling has become so severe that some conservative extremists are being banned from social media sites because of their comments.
The latest example comes from Twitter, which has permanently blocked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from its site because of her "repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy" as well as other false comments she posted on her web site.
Her response, according to published reports, was to call Twitter an "enemy to America and can't handle the truth." She added, "Social media platforms can't stop the truth," and Big Tech "can't stop the truth."
Note: Neither can politicians stop a free press from reporting what politicians say, and publicizing fact alongside the comments so readers can decide what's true and what is political balderdash.
Both Greene and Donald Trump have been banned from using Twitter because they posted false information about the insurrection one year go. Greene can still use her congressional account.
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