Michael Smerconish: Rush to judgment

IN 2006, JACK Huberman published a book called "101 People Who Are Really Screwing America."

Maybe he should add his own name to the list. In the heat of the debate surrounding Rush Limbaugh and the NFL St. Louis Rams, Huberman initiated a game of 21st-century whisper down the lane. But he didn't wait for the lane to mangle the message. He botched it from the start. The result is a cautionary tale about the recklessness that feeding a 24/7 media can induce.

Limbaugh was No. 27 on Huberman's list. The author justified that chapter's title - "Rush Limbaugh is a big fat fascist idiot" - in part by using a quote allegedly from America's most listened-to radio host: "I mean, let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark." Huberman offered no source or citation for the quote.

Fast-forward to last week. The debate over whether Limbaugh was fit to own a stake in the Rams exploded. Detractors eager to illustrate Limbaugh's divisiveness and racism parroted the quote from Huberman's book.

So did many others. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bryan Burwell cited it. As did the Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock (in a piece for Fox Sports) and Detroit Free Press writer Drew Sharp (in an article posted on USA Today's Web site).

Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon mentioned it on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption." On CNN, Rick Sanchez repeated it as a graphic displayed Limbaugh's picture next to the words. It was a discussion point in a debate led by David Shuster on MSNBC.

Limbaugh denied he'd ever said it. He said he and his staff combed their archives and found no such statement. Huberman declined to reveal his source "on advice of counsel." Many of the outlets that ran with the quote backtracked, noting the shaky sourcing.

The Internet, unlike the NFL, offers no opportunity to stop the game and reverse an incorrect call. And in the crunch of the news cycle, information can bounce from outlet to outlet with little regard for its veracity.

It's the peril of today's news-gathering. There's an overload of information, but sometimes a shortage of substance. Bloggers are flourishing, but investigative reporters are dying off. Everyone's an expert, but nobody's a fact-checker.

Limbaugh's case is only the latest example. John Facenda was part of thousands of local newscasts and NFL Films projects. Football fans credit him with immortalizing the home of the Green Bay Packers as "the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field."

Facenda never said it, but the quote has been attributed to him in USA Today and the New York Times, among others. The Packers, too, have pointed to Facenda as the source. In a 2002 interview with Sports Illustrated, Philly's own Harry Kalas credited his fellow NFL Films announcer for coining the phrase.

Remember Martin Eisenstadt?

A senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy, last year Eisenstadt's bio described him as "an expert on Near Eastern military and political affairs" who worked "alongside Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, offering advice and liaising with the Jewish community in particular."

The Los Angeles Times Web site, MSNBC and a legion of blogs picked up on Eisenstadt's own blog posts. In one, the self-proclaimed political insider said he was the source who leaked Sarah Palin's infamous "Africa is a country" comment. But "Eisenstadt," it turned out, was a fictional character created by two aspiring filmmakers looking to score a TV gig.

The Limbaugh, Facenda and "Eisenstadt" falsehoods are part of a dangerous tendency. The news cycle never ends. And too many news organizations, eager to trade substance for expedience, will parrot any morsel of info to seem to be keeping up.

As the modes of dispensing information rise in number and speed, the most basic element of reporting - getting the story right - is out of style. News stories, TV segments and interview transcripts live forever online. Google doesn't run on veracity. Like newspapers and TV ratings, it's fueled by how many eyeballs a piece of info draws. And that rush is more problematic for America than Limbaugh will ever be.

Hear Michael Smerconish weekdays 5-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.smerconish.com.