A David Broder column in today's Washington Post mourns the decline of journalistic standards and emphasis on accuracy in the modern media business. Given Broder's track record of sloppiness and bending the truth to score his own political points, however, his complaints seem somewhat misplaced.

Broder writes today:

Time was when any outfit such as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that came around peddling an ad with implausible charges would have run into a hard-nosed reporter whose first questions — before he or she ran with the story — would have been, "Who the hell are you guys? What's your angle? What's your proof?"

Any Texan with a grudge against George Bush and the National Guard who suddenly produced a purported photocopy of an explosive 30-year-old order signed by a dead man would have been treated with the deep distrust he deserved by the reporters to whom he offered his wares. And no professional journalist would have made a call to the Kerry campaign encouraging a flack to contact this dubious source.

We've wandered a long way from safe ground in the news business. Sometimes I wonder if we can find our way back.

But Broder's track record seems anything but consistent with this admonition to ask "What's your proof?" Consider his column published in the May 19, 2002 Washington Post, "A Bipartisan Outrage," which was a discussion of the long-pending Bankruptcy Reform Bill. Although it obviously has been awhile since this column was published, Broder's complaints about the sloppiness "the other guys" in the news business forces me to blow the whistle. Broder's column contains an astounding number of half-truths and distortions. In the column, he applauds the gridlock in Washington that has blocked the final passage of the bankruptcy reform bill, notwithstanding overwhelming bipartisan support for the measure. Broder wrote at the time:

Gridlock would doom me to write yet again next year on a topic that has been widely ignored except on the business pages in the press. It would require me to rail again about the way in which business lobbying — lavish campaign contributions to President Bush and pressure from big home-state bank and credit card employers on such Democratic senators as Tom Daschle and Joe Biden — has made this a bipartisan outrage.

But writing repetitious columns is a small price to pay if a bill as filled with inequities as this one is delayed or ultimately defeated.

He then added:

Credit card companies and the banks that own them claim they are being ripped off by people who run up unsecured debt and then file for bankruptcy to avoid paying. This bill would basically say that any family or individual whose income at least equals the state median and who has $100 a month left over after paying for food, clothing, housing and transportation would have to work out a five-year payment plan with the bank rather than starting over with a clean slate.

Ostensibly, it is designed to catch wealthy scofflaws. But it is likely to be felt most harshly by middle-class individuals who file for bankruptcy — 1.4 million of them last year. Their average income was less than $25,000....

Note the patent dishonesty in the combination of these two sentences--the bill would apply only to those whose "income at least equals the state median." Yes, in the next sentence he states that the "average income" of those who filed bankruptcy was less than $25,000. In fact, according to the Census Bureau, the median national income in 2002 (the year his column was written) for a family of four, was $59,981, ranging from $46,671 in Arkansas to $75,505. If, as Broder expressly states, the bill applies only to those who make above the state median income, how could it "harshly" impact the middle-class filers who earned $25,000 the year before? Clearly, Broder either hasn't done his homework here, or he is pulling a fast one for political purposes.

Broder also writes:

Gridlock would doom me to write yet again next year on a topic that has been widely ignored except on the business pages in the press. It would require me to rail again about the way in which business lobbying — lavish campaign contributions to President Bush and pressure from big home-state bank and credit card employers on such Democratic senators as Tom Daschle and Joe Biden — has made this a bipartisan outrage.

Notably absent from Broder's characterization of the politics of bankruptcy reform is a recognition that most supporters of the legislation (including liberals such as Barney Frank) have supported the legislation on the simple basis that it is fair and appropriate for high-income bankruptcy filers to repay some of their debts in bankruptcy if they can. Moreover, his ridiculously oversimplified view of the political process ignores the intensity of lobbying by lawyers and other special-interests who oppose bankruptcy reform in part because tightening the bankruptcy laws would reduce the number of filings--which would reduce business for bankruptcy lawyers and others. In fact, while Broder singles out Daschle and Biden, he fails to mention: (1) that the most adamant opponents of bankruptcy reform were those politicians who have received the most amount of contributions from lawyers, and (2) a study by the American Bankruptcy Institute that finds little correlation between lobbying money and votes on bankruptcy reform. In fact, a comprehensive study of voting patterns in Congress concludes that only about 15 of the 306 votes in favor of Bankruptcy Reform in the House of Representatives can be plausibly attributed to lobbying expenditures by financial industries. I have described all of this in more detail in law review articles, which can be found here, here, and here.

He writes in today's column, "The way to the top of journalism was no longer to test yourself on police beats and city hall assignments, under the skeptical gaze of editors who demanded precision in writing and careful weighing of evidence. It was to make a reputation as a clever wordsmith, a feisty advocate, a belligerent or beguiling political personality, and then market yourself to the media."

The issue here isn't whether bankruptcy reform is a good idea or a bad idea, which is an issue on which reasonable minds can disagree. Nor is it whether Broder is entitled to his opinion--as an opinion columnist, of course he is. The issue is that in his column on bankruptcy reform Broder's reporting on the actual facts is blatantly inaccurate and politically-motivated. He could have written a nuanced analysis of the issue, or reported that there are reasonable arguments on both sides as to the wisdom of the law. Instead, he distorted the facts for sensationalist and political ends. Given that he wrote the column two years ago, it seems a bit misplaced for him to now criticize his colleagues in the press for following his lead.