RonWorld.

It's makes me crazy when news anchors and other high profile TV personalities blatantly lie to placate their audience. Case in point: "Fox and Friends" co-anchor Brian whats-his-name's comment several weeks ago that "he couldn't wait to receive his stimulus check from the IRS" was a lie. Stimulus checks were sent only to those Americans earning less than $75,000 per year. Fox fact: Brian earns over $1,000,000 per year as "Fox and Friends" featured regular host; has his own chauffer driven town car to and from work every morning along with a hefty clothing budget. Now, either Brian needs to fire his agent or he's blatantly lieing. I choose the latter because I happen to know better.

Not long afterward on the same network (Fox News Channel), featured host E.D. Hill sniped "These high gas prices are killing me". Fox fact: anyone with their name in the title of the show earns over $1,000,000 per year as does Ms. Hill; has her own chauffer driven town car to and from work every morning along with a hefty clothing budget. Now, either E.D. needs to fire her agent or she's blatantly lieing. Again, I choose the latter because I happen to know better.

Today on MSNBC, Mika whats-her-name complained about higher Starbucks prices. They were just killing her. If Mika earns less than $1,000,000 per year; doesn't have her own chauffer driven town car taking her to and from work every morning and doesn't have a hefty clothing budget, she needs to get a new agent or move over to Fox. I think we're all beginning to know better.

It's insulting to think how stupid they think we really are when they lie to us.

When I had the honor of working as a show host for QVC several years ago, the one golden rule I took from there (and appreciated most) was, never lie. If you didn't love something, then don't say you do. Only present its' strengths. Always be honest. Let's review: honesty represents the highest possible integrity any company can demonstrate. Believe me, coming from the world of infomercials, this really meant something. This might explain why more than 10% of the available quantity are pre-sold each midnight right before QVC formally presents it's Today's Special Value. The audience trusts their intergrity. That's what honesty buys you. An audience of trust.

Perhaps our news friends could learn something from all this.

Ron Maestri
www.ronmaestri.com