A recent article from Jay Root of the Fort Worth(less) Star Telegram characterized The Hon. Ron Paul as an advocate of drug dealers and child pornographers.
Those of us familiar with Dr. Paul realize that this is a blatant and malicious misrepresentation. The article, though the majority of it seems to be accurate, is intended to form negative opinions in people of Dr. Paul. By placing Dr. Paul with items that people already have negative opinions, they tie those feelings to him. The sentence is placed at the head of the article so that few will continue to read the positive information about Congressman Paul.
I contacted Mr. Root in an email that read:
I am aghast at your portrayal of Ron Paul. Within the opening sentence of your article you state, "He spoke out against putting dope dealers in federal prison, opposed a bill to crack down on child pornography..." This egregious mis-characterization of The Hon. Dr. Ron Paul is breathtaking.
His opposition to the "War on Drugs" (which has been as successful as the war in Iraq) does not equate to being "against putting dope dealers in federal prison." It is as if I said, "Jay Root loves killing little babies," just because you wrote an unflattering article about some one that is against abortion. Now, Jay Root may like killing babies, but to attempt to reach that conclusion from reading an article (or a voting record on a bill) is misleading to say the least.
If you call yourself a "journalist" you throw the term around very loosely.
