See, this is what I'm talking about

It turns out that David Banner, one of the people I talked to for the article on Dr. Sharpley-Whiting (see yesterday's post), also testified before the Congressional committee this morning. Check out how he's depicted in this news story about the hearings: "Defiant," "testimony laced with swear words," etc. It makes him sound like some sort of goon. I interviewed the man by phone for the better part of an hour, and he knew I was doing an article about a feminist critique of hip-hop, so I wasn't exactly the friendliest face of the media. He was perfectly polite, and impressed me as an intelligent, reasonable guy who's just trying to make a living in the music business. He might have used the odd swear word, but so do most members of Congress. If you read the actual quotes in the AP article, it's clear that what he said was perfectly sane--but the quotes come after the description of his testimony.

Things always get dumbed down in the process of being reported. It's inevitable. There's only so much of a story you can tell in 500 words. Still, there's something about the arena of a Congressional hearing that makes makes the problem especially acute. Parading experts before authority is a pantomime, a bit of theater. There's not really any discourse happening, so the media reports the drama, the good guys versus the bad guys. Don't believe everything you read