06:30 pm
Banned Books and Unsubstantiated Rumors
As you may have heard, Sarah Palin tried to get some books banned from the Wasilla Public Library, subsequently firing the head librarian for insufficient loyalty. Time has a pretty good account:
Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. “She asked the library how she could go about banning books,” he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. “The librarian was aghast.” That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn’t be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor.
This has been all over the place, so you might wonder why I’m posting on it now.
The answer is that this is a classic example of how a well-reported story turns into an unsubstantiated rumor. Today, a blogger by the name of Jessamyn West wrote about Palin’s efforts to ban books and linked to the Time story. I want to emphasize that Ms. West only shared Time’s account and commented on it.
Then, one of her commenters, someone by the name of “Andrew Aucoin” — again, it was not, repeat, not Jessamyn West herself — posted what he claimed was a list of books that Palin wanted banned. Despite the fact that several commenters urged “Andrew” to source his allegation, he did not. Unfortunately, that did not prevent other bloggers from picking up the story.
Guess what? The list is fake — it is an exact reproduction of a compendium of all books banned anywhere in the United States maintained by Alder and Robin Books. Some of the books on it were published after Palin’s tenure as Mayor of Wasilla ended in 2002. And it took me all of thirty seconds on The Googles to find it.
Folks, we need to keep our eye on the prize here. Every time we pass on false or inaccurate allegations, we’re helping Sarah Palin (and John McCain) look better, not worse. Please fact check before you share an unsubstantiated rumor — think about how upset many people (myself included) were when the wingnuts spread rumors about Obama’s religion. If we are to succeed in beating McCain-Palin, we need to stick to the facts.
Kudos to those commenters on who raised questions about the list. And shame on “Andrew Aucoin” for perpetrating a falsehood.
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