So Stupid It Hurts

The State of South Carolina approves a science text book and WLTX News 19 does a story about the parents' reaction (Video Here).

And it was awful on many levels.

WLTX News 19 does a horrible job of presenting the story. They selected two creationist parents to interview about the selection of the textbook (one who opposed the teaching of evolution at all and one that was not totally opposed to teaching evolution) and allowed them to present their positions. The reporter made no effort to verify facts or correct the fallacies that the parents presented.

And that was the stupid that hurt.

The mother that is opposed to teaching evolution in public schools spoke with great confidence and absolutely no understanding of the topic. She is either totally ignorant on the subject or was telling so many lies that there is reason to suspect she may be on the Discovery Institute Payroll. I am sure she is a well intended but grossly undereducated adult (on scientific topics at least).

While I am relatively sure her actions where genuine and honest, I am not so sure about WLTX News 19. Why do this report without addressing the clearly incorrect information? Why present only the creationist point of view? Why not interview parents that approved of the adoption of a science textbook that teaches evolution? Was this an attempt to drive public opinion or just incredibly bad journalism?

I honestly wish that when media outlets come across a topic they don't understand that they would spend a little effort informing themselves before attempting to present it to the public. Maybe then my head would stop hurting from banging it against the wall.