It happened in the short space of a just a few minutes listening to KGO radio in San Francisco, and had to do with the coverage of the Free Speech Movment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Movement

There was a large public meeting held by the Free Speech Movemnent, which had had to exert considerable pressure on the administration to secure. KGO radio covered the meeting live--which was scheduled to go for an hour. The speakers spoke, and when they finished, there was something like 10 minutes or so left. So they decided to open the microphone to anyone who wanted it.

Who wanted it first was a representative of the administration--I don't remember who, but it was someone of high stature, such as the vice-chancellor. There was a brief debate (about 20-30 seconds) about whether to let him have the mic--after all, the administration could get its words out to the media any time they wanted--after which it was given to him. At which point, he said, "This meeting is over, turn off the mic."

Naturally, the meeting organizers wanted the mic back, because he really had nothing to say, he was simply trying to prevent anyone else from speaking--which, of course, is what the whole Free Speech Movement controversy was about from start to finish. There were sounds of scuffling and confusion, cries of chaos and outrage, and eventually the station's on-the-scene commentators describing what had happened. Even though anyone listening had heard the whole thing for themselves, there was already a bit of revisionist history going on, although I don't remember precisely how it was spun.

They then returned to their studio for their local news broadcast. The spin at that point I do remember--the hypocritical Free Speech Movement tried to take the mic away from an administration official--although they did explain that it was at a Free Speech Movement meeting.

Next, they went to West Coast Monitor News, out of Los Angeles. And the spin spun even further. A brave University of California official was giving a speech, when members of the hypocritical so-called "Free Speech Movement" tried to take the microphone away from him. Though not successful, they prevented him from speaking further. (Completely gone was any mention of the fact that it was, after all, a Free Speech Movement meeting, and the microphone was legally theirs for the duration of the meeting.)

Now, all this--from the end of the formal presentations to the Monitor news--took no more than 15 minutes or so. That's how long my media education took. A little over 42 years ago.

Prior to that, I had been profoundly vexed by trying to understand how things like McCarthyism and Hitler's Big Lie were possible. Suddenly, in a flash, I understood: plain old bald-faced lying. It was so simple, I felt like an idiot for not realizing it all along.

Of course, I'm sure that those telling it would have denied it. The first lie is always the lie you tell yourself.

So there's nothing surprising in this.

The media swallowing it all whole, however, though no longer surprising to anyone, is still morally repulsive.