Where's the Beef?

The newspapaper that is unable or unwilling to unearth the facts can manufacture a "news" story simply by reporting gossip—much of which it manufactures itself. Sunday's Statist featured this knitting circle transcript cobbled together by Lee Bandy.

Bandy talks to a bunch of people and tries to ascertain if there's any interest in getting a formidable Republican to challenge Governor Sanford. Finding none, Bandy decrees that the absence of evidence is evidence of presence. (Hey, we didn't say it made sense.)

Here's how the story starts:

A group of prominent S.C. business leaders — unhappy with Gov. Mark Sanford’s handling of the state’s economy — is trying to drum up a 2006 primary opponent for the Republican governor.

Throughout the rest of the story, Bandy never tells us how many businessmen are part of the group, who those businessmen are, who they are looking at, or indeed any proof that the group exists.

You might think that somewhere in the next 37 paragraphs, Bandy would come up with that information. You would be wrong.

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