Just a coincidence, I’m sure

Doug Ross has compiled a list of nearly 200 newspaper headlines that appeared within 24 hours of each other: all oddly similar, and all originating from the same source:

The following headlines have appeared in newspapers within the last 24 hours. This is not an inclusive list.

• Third of Illinoisans went without health insurance in last 2 years: Sun-Times

• Report: 2.5M in Michigan lacked health insurance: Chicago Tribune

• Study: 29% of Ohioans have gone without health insurance: BizJournals

• Report: More NJ residents lacking health insurance: Forbes

• Study: Many Kansans are uninsured: BizJournals

• Report tallies uninsured in Hawaii: KPUA AM 670

• Study: 1 in 3 Alabamians have no insurance: BizJournals

• 1 out of 4 NH residents lacked health insurance within last two years: WBZ

• 1 out of 3 Coloradans lacked insurance in past two years: Denver Post

• Nearly 1 in 3 Idahoans lack health insurance, study says: Idaho Statesman

• One in four nonelderly Minnesotans has been without health insurance, study shows: Twin Cities

• 1 in 3 are uninsured in Georgia, study says: Augusta Chronicle

• 1.3 million Louisiana residents uninsured: Independent

• Millions in N.C. lack health plan: Winston-Salem Journal

• Uninsured are mostly working: Sun-Herald

• Nearly one-third of Wyoming residents went without health insurance in past two years: Wyoming Tribune

• Report finds health insurance lacking in W.Va.: Charleston Gazette

• Nearly 1/3 Of Kentuckians Uninsured Says Report: WFPL Radio

• REPORT: 254K Rhode Islanders Uninsured at Some Point from 2007-2008: ABC 6

Doug did some digging and found out these headlines all originated with FamiliesUSA, a health-care advocacy group closely associated with the Service Employees International Union and ACORN. Doug also reviews the misleading statistics about insurance coverage that FamiliesUSA and other shills for Administration policy use. Be sure to read the whole thing.

Now, forget for a moment that this is another example of the Administration’s use of astroturfing to create the false image of a groundswell of demand for its policies. That’s all part of the permanent campaign we’re becoming all too familiar with.

What’s really disturbing is that this more proof that journalism in this country, if not dead, is face-down in the gutter bleeding. Either these news vendors were complicit in a propaganda campaign meant to advance the Obama agenda, thus surrendering the independence that’s supposed to be the hallmark of real journalism, or they simply took what was little more than a FamiliesUSA press release at face value, not checking facts or trying to get other views. Instead of being shills, in this scenario they’re just incompetent. I’m sure that makes them feel much better.

(hat tip: Blue Crab Boulevard)

(Cross-posted at Public Secrets, my home on the Web)