All I want for Christmas is factual, unbiased news.

All year long, we in Alabama have suffered one news report after another in which sensationalism has triumphed over fact.

Take the media coverage of Alabama’s immigration law, for example. Contrary to widespread reports, the immigration law doesn’t criminalize simply giving an undocumented immigrant a ride to church; it outlaws hiding an illegal alien in the trunk of your car and driving him from Tijuana to Birmingham, just like the identical provision in federal law.

Now, a hullabaloo has erupted over Alabama’s ethics law.

An irresponsible news report absurdly suggested that under the new ethics law, teachers would go to jail simply for receiving reasonable Christmas gifts from grateful students. Needless to say, the story went viral.

It was blindly repeated by media outlets across the state, and before long, it was even picked up by National Public Radio (news, with a shot of liberal smugness). NPR wouldn’t dare miss an opportunity to paint Alabama Republicans as a bunch of mean-spirited grinches out to steal Christmas from teachers. It was just too delicious to pass up, even if it was patently untrue.