THE EYES AND EARS OF THE PUBLIC, IN ACTION - AT 7:41 P.M. ET:  Our careful, check-it-out mainstream media has had another glorious day, informing the American people.  The Politico reports with pride:

In a dramatic shift, the Chamber of Commerce announced Monday that it is throwing its support behind climate change legislation making its way through the U.S. Senate.

Only it didn’t.

An email press release announcing the change is a hoax, say Chamber officials.

Several media organizations fell for it.

A CNBC anchor interrupted herself mid-sentence Monday morning to announce that the network had “breaking news,” then cut away to reporter Hampton Pearson, who read from the fake press release.

Pearson quickly followed up with a second report saying the “so-called bulletin” was an “absolute hoax.” Smelling a rat, CNBC’s Larry Kudlow demanded to know whether the White House had been involved.

In a story posted Monday morning, Reuters declared: “The Chamber of Commerce said on Monday it will no longer opposes climate change legislation, but wants the bill to include a carbon tax.”

Reuters updated the story to acknowledge the hoax, but it was too late: The Washington Post and the New York Times had already posted the fake story on their Web sites.

COMMENT:  This, from a profession that recently was fact-checking a Saturday Night Live sketch critical of President Obama.

Now, the key question:  Would the press have run with this story had a left-wing organization suddenly endorsed a right-wing policy?  What do you think the answer is? 

October 19, 2009