Here’s Jan Brewer, the Governor of Arizona responding to journalists’ inquiries into whether she pulled a claim of “beheadings in the desert” by illegal immigrants out of thin air:

“That was an error, if I said that,” the Republican told The Associated Press on Friday. “I misspoke, but you know, let me be clear, I am concerned about the border region because it continues to be reported in Mexico that there’s a lot of violence going on and we don’t want that going into Arizona.”

In other words, a politician drew added attention to a legislative issue in her home state, (and made national headlines in the process), in-part to a quote that’s not even remotely true. The issue here isn’t whether or not illegal immigration is a problem in Arizona, that’s a very justifiable concern in itself and no one debates it’s a hot-button issue. The problem is that if a state Governor can pull fabricated quotes out of thin air to make a point, then what other political and social issues are going unchecked in similar high-profile legislations nationwide? Will old-fashioned journalism triumph over “entertainment news” in similar national cases in the future?

The article goes on to describe her backpedaling:

“[her] claim has come back to haunt her after her stammering debate performance in which she failed to back it up and ignored repeated questions on the issue from a scrum of reporters. Brewer has spent the time since backtracking and trying to repair the damage done from her cringe-worthy debate against underdog challenger Terry Goddard.”

This case provides more evidence that journalism can be very effective when it’s applied correctly. For more, read here via the AP on Yahoo news