The Rocky Mountain News decided to look into Ward "little Eichmanns" Churchill in a serious way, sifting through complex scholarly debates and doing in-depth research around issues like plagiarism and his claims of Indian anscestry. It required serious, tenacious investigative journalism, sustained attention, and the ability to convey context - all rare commodities these days. The four major areas investigated were Fabrication, Plagiarism, Mischaracterization, and Misrepresentation.
The verdict: guilty of all charges, in detail. Their series was so good that the Colorado University panel had to extend their hearings, and the sustained spotlight is also cleansing. For myself, I particularly appreciated their work setting historical truths straight in a public setting. It matters.
Discarded Lies has the full story, and the links. Take a deserved bow, Rocky Mountain News - and chalk one up for the establishment media.
Jim Payne of Pirate Ballerina has been the go-to guy on Ward Churchill as well, but his url has not been working for me today.
Robin, Pirate Ballerina worked for me as recently as five minutes ago...
Yep, he's working for me now.
This is the type of work that deserves a Pulitzer. It also shows that newspapers are an important and viable entity in the news gathering and distribution business.
PirateBallerina experienced a power outage yesterday that exceeded the capabilities of our back-up power supplies--hence, the "disappearance" of PB. We're back up and scrappy now, ready to take on all comers and give then the first two falls.