By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

“Suppose a major party candidate for president believed we were in a “post-truth” era and actually campaigned that way. Would political reporters in the mainstream press figure it out and tell us?

“I say no. They would not tell us. Not in any clear way.” – Media critic Jay Rosen

A post on Mitt Romney’s Facebook page on Aug. 4 read:

“President (Barack) Obama’s lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state’s early voting period is an outrage”

Outrage, yes. But entirely untrue, ThinkProgress quickly pointed out:

“Since 2005, Ohio has had in person early-voting in the three days prior to the election. This year, however, the Republican legislature in Ohio eliminated early voting during this period, except for members of the military. The Obama lawsuit is attempting to restore voting rights for all Ohioans, not restrict them for the military or any other group.”

There’s nothing unusual in this. It was an example chosen almost at random. The Romney campaign disseminates so many lies that it’s impossible to keep track of them all. And, there’s bound to be all sorts of such lies flying through the air at the upcoming Republican National Convention. Indeed, media critic Jay Rosen has described it as a “post-truth campaign,” intentionally designed to be particularly difficult, if not impossible, for “even-handed” mainstream journalism to deal with—what Rosen calls, “a story that’s too big to tell.”