With Oprah flaying James Frey alive on nationwide TV late last week, truthiness is in the air. Stephen Colbert’s portmanteau seems to have struck a chord with Americans, describing something we’ve never really had the word for: the state of being kinda true, pretty much true, sorta true.

Newsweek takes a deep look at that compelling piece of live televison with an article this week headlined “The Wrath of Oprah”:

“Her anger was understandable. After all, her kingdom was at stake. In its 20 years on the air, The Oprah Winfrey Show has operated with a simple credo: to thine own self be true. The formula has made Oprah her billions. It’s also changed the way Americans live. Every time a politician lets his lip quiver or a cable anchor ‘emotes’ on TV, they nod to the cult of confession that Oprah helped create. So when she stuck adamantly by Frey, the fabricator, she seemed to have lost touch with her public. Worse, she seemed to have lost touch with her inner Oprah.”

Frey’s defense, of course, is that the book, while filled with made-up facts and tall tales, still achieved some kind of “essential truth” through his storytelling. So what if the details are fudged, he says, the sentiment at the core of the story is still true. To our ears this sounds much like the “reality” we see in reality shows. And lo and behold, Time has a story this week that poses this question about the way these shows are put together: “Is dramatic editing wrong if it captures the essence of the moment?”

Take the case of one Sarah Kozer, a contestant on the dating show “Joe Millionare.” On her date with the show’s one eligible...

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