While I obviously think that news media should strive to report the truth, they also need to develop a clear understanding about what are statements of fact that can be checked for truth or falsity and what are statements of opinion or judgment that can at best be only partially factually challenged.
For example, the Times editor writes this:
If so, then perhaps the next time Mr. Romney says the president has a habit of apologizing for his country, the reporter should insert a paragraph saying, more or less:
“The president has never used the word ‘apologize’ in a speech about U.S. policy or history. Any assertion that he has apologized for U.S. actions rests on a misleading interpretation of the president’s words.”
I read Romney's statement (and other statements like it, which are admittedly endemic) as his judgment about the message sent by Obama's foreign policy and what he's said and done in meetings with foreign leaders (his Cairo speech, his bow to the Saudi king, etc. etc.). The key word that I'd leave out of the editor's draft response/follow-up paragraph is "misleading." Just say that Romney's assertion that Obama apologized for U.S. actions is based on Romney's own interpretation of U.S. words.
And, of course, nothing beats getting a follow-up question or two to the actual source, though that can be difficult. Still: Mr. Romney, which U.S. actions did Obama apologize for? When? How?
If you ask enough of the basic six journalism questions (who/what/where/when/why/how), eventually you'll get past any misleading statements without having to simply assert that someone is being misleading.
Another common example: "{BAD THING} costs our economy $50 billion annually."
Is that a statement of fact, or a statement of judgment? This kind of statement comes up all the time. Some are more loosely tethered to facts than others. Lots of groups putting out these kinds of statistics have reasons to want to include as many different things as part of the cost of whatever {BAD THING} is, and you can (hopefully) fairly point out what those elements are and how some of them might have multiple causes, not just {BAD THING}. At some point, though, you're going to reach a question of judgment, not just fact, even with that.
The list goes on.
Very few statements are as clear cut as "George Washington was the second president of the United States" or "Al Gore invented the Internet" or "2010 was a leap year."
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