Why the press should call out politicians when they lie

HIS inauguration was the biggest ever. Donald Trump could not make it through the first days of his presidency without saying something that was demonstrably untrue. The New York Times dubbed it a 'falsehood'. When Mr Trump said that over 3m people had voted illegally, the Times headline was sharper: 'Trump Repeats Lie About Popular Vote in Meeting with Lawmakers'. That word keeps recurring. CNN and MSNBC (both cable-news stations) recently said that Mr Trump had lied about the murder rate being the highest in almost a half-century. (It is in fact near historical lows.) Mr Trump says a lot of things that are nakedly false. Are they all lies'There is a difference between falsehood and lying. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a 'lie' as a 'false statement made with intent to deceive'. It says 'falsehood' is 'an uttered untruth; a lie. Also false statements, uttered untruth, in general.' Falsehood is thus the wider word, covering lying and 'uttered untruth, in general'. Lying requires an intent to deceive'which implies knowing that what you're saying isn't...Continue reading
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