Get it right, politicians...

It's hard to escape the fact that we're in the middle of election season. It's the time of year when every television commercial seems to end with "I'm [insert name here] and I sponsored this ad because I belive in America." Or something to that effect.

In these unavoidable ads, many candidates like to use "quotes" from newspaper articles that attest to their own brilliance and their opponent's inherent stupidity or evil.

The problem with this kind of quote-lifting, however, is that most politicians are not journalists. And apparently, they don't pay attention to detail in the same way that we do.

At least one major newspaper--The Chicago Tribune--is fed up. In an editorial published on October 16 (click here to read it), Tribune editors point out misrepresented quotes used in the campaigns of Illinois Govenor Rod Gov. Rod Blagojevich and state Sen. Peter Roskam, who is running for a 6th District seat in Congress. Apparently, both camps used quotes that the Tribune had used as quotes--without citing them as such.

"If you choose to quote us," writes the Tribune, "please take care to relate what we said, not what you wish we'd said. Get it right--or leave us out of it."

So what should be the standard for candidate's use and misuse of the media? Clearly, candidates should take the time to get the quote right, because like journalists, they are dependent on their own credibility. Do people take the time to check these quotes? Does it matter in the larger outcome of the election?
-EG