From WNYC in New York, this is On the Media.

Bob Garfield is away this week.

I'm Brooke Ladstone.

This week's Republican National Convention in Tampa was kind of fascinating

in that it showed mainstream journalists struggling to reconcile reporting on blatant untruth

with their reflexive aversion to taking stance.

Presidential nominee Mitt Romney mostly steered clear of provable facts, as in his reference

to the president's quote apology tour, fact-checking organizations call that untrue, but what

if you equate diplomacy with apology?

Likewise, if he asserts...

I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed.

I mean, who's to argue?

But vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's speech,

praised as audacious and energetic,

was so factually challenged that Fox News anchor Chris Wallace

was moved to offer a couple of fast, preemptive fact checks.

I just want to make two final points because they're going to be brought off over the course of the next 24 hours.

He talked about the GM plant in Janesville that was shut down after Obama came in. I'm sure the Democrats are going to

point out it was the president who bailed out GM. And he also criticized the president for doing

nothing about the Bull Simpson plan. He was a member of the Bull Simpson Commission and he voted

against it. Back to you, Megan. To his credit, Wallace was quick on the draw. On cable and broadcast TV, Ryan's

whoppers were generally referenced fleetingly as statements that Democrats might later

...