Liars lie. It's what they do.

Some groups in our society get special treatment, in exchange for special behavior.  Police officers typically get the benefit of doubt when it comes to testimony and teachers typically are held to be experts in what they teach.  Both groups expend effort and invest time into being 'special' in their area of society.

Well, it used to be that journalists were one of those groups.  There was a learning period to becoming a journalist.  There were schools of journalism.  College degree's in journalism.  The central tenet of the profession was 'Trust us.  We are professionals at this and we won't lie to you'.

There was a time when the big names carried almost godlike connotations.... Brokaw, Cronkite, Woodward..... they were *professionals*.  If they reported something, we trusted it had been vetted, researched, verified, and could be taken as true on it's face.  It was fact based, and solid as granite.  The true journalists guarded their name and honor like warriors. They based their entire career, and good names, on being absolutely and verifiable honest and professional.

Well, that's how it used to be.   Long ago.  Historical like.

Today?  Well..... not so much.  In fact, that well has gone dry years ago, and today's so-called journalists are floundering in the dung of their creation.  They still try to pull that mantel of professionalism over themselves, but the reality is blindingly evident.

Journalistic ethics is a dead concept.  Now it's a matter of liars and their lies.  Lies of incompetence, or lies fully intentional, liars lie.  It's what they do.

Witness the lie ABC presents above.  Bold faced and impossibly false..... and sadly typical of the major media today.  It's become so commonplace as to be almost beneath comment, and it's central to the failure of modern journalism.

There was a time where 'Journalism' equated with trustworthy and professional.  Now, it means something wholly different... and that's entirely self adopted by the industry.

What passes for 'Journalism' these days leaves the public with only one outlook when it comes to the media.  It's no longer trust.  It's "How are they lying to me today, and how much effort will I expend to find out?"

As practically every news outlet in the nation see's their fortunes and markets dwindle, it seems the public is answering the question.  It's just not worth our time anymore to fact check the purveyors of Pravda.   They've removed themselves from relevance in society by turning away from the only thing that made them special and deserving of consideration.  Ethics and professionalism.

Liars lie.  It's what they do.  It's all they do.