In Afghanistan, Limbaugh lectured students on importance of “truth” in journalism

Once again calling into his radio program from Afghanistan, where he is working at the request of the federal government to highlight U.S. relief efforts, nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh lectured students on journalistic standards.

Recounting a meeting with students at a “journalist training program,” Limbaugh noted that he told the aspiring journalists: “The best thing you can learn about journalism is truth.” From the February 25 edition of the Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: One of the first questions was, “How do you balance justice and truth and objectivity?” and that was just a hanging curve ball. It was a softball. I just knocked it right out of the ballpark. I said, “The best thing you can learn about journalism is truth. Forget all the rest of the stuff. You're a human being, and you have opinions. You're an educated, learned human being; as a result, you have opinions. You have an interest in the outcome of events. Don't try to hide that. You'd just be a phony. You'd just be a hypocrite.”

Media Matters for America has documented numerous examples of Limbaugh's misstatements, lies, and distortions. It remains unclear who is paying for Limbaugh's trip to Afghanistan, and why no progressive is traveling with him as a counterpoint.

Limbaugh apparently met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during the trip, as he explained to his listeners:

LIMBAUGH: We came back to Kabul and went to another arrangement here where there's more revolutionary media taking place, and then spent -- it was scheduled to be 10 minutes with President Karzai -- spent 45 minutes with him.