Campaign Desk has written many times about the perils of “he said/she said” journalism, the practice of reporters parroting competing rhetoric instead of measuring it for veracity against known facts. In the wake of the first SBVFT spot early this month, cable news programs for the most part offered viewers two talking heads, one on each side of the issue, to debate the merits of the claims. Verifiable facts were rarely offered to viewers — despite the fact that military records supporting Kerry’s version of events were readily available. Instead of acting as filters for the truth, reporters nodded and attentively transcribed both sides of the story, invariably failing to provide context, background, or any sense of which claims held up and which were misleading. And sometimes even that was asking too much. According to Media Matters, the Aug. 4th editions of FOX News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes” and MSNBC’s “Scarborough Country” both reported and aired the ad without mentioning (1) that despite the ad’s claims, those featured in it did not serve on Kerry’s boat, (2) that the SBVFT was wrapped in Republican ties, dating all the way back to former Nixon protege John O’Neill, or (3) the fact that the doctor who claims to have treated Kerry in the ad was not the medical official who signed his medical records.