OPINION
Premium

Shifting Disinformation Standards

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Sep 28, 2023
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

09.28.23

Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – VARIOUS OUTLETS

  • "We do not like his accuracy, so we will alter the interpretation to prove him wrong!"

As expected, following the GOP presidential primary debate, the press released their attack corgis to correct the record on Republicans in a manner they never employ when it comes to the Democrats. Of particular note was when Governor Ron DeSantis corrected moderator Ilia Calderón for her fractured interpretation of the Florida schools' curriculum involving the teaching of slavery. Calderón invoked Vice President Kamala Harris and her now infamous broadside of how DeSantis was diminishing the impacts of slavery – based on a single line in hundreds of pages of content.

After he called Kamala's interpretation a "hoax" and addressed the fraudulent way the school lessons are defined, the fact-checking sensors went into the RED as they pounced on his line.

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: "This is misleading."
  • FACTCHECK.ORG: "It's not a hoax."
  • CNN: "The moderator wasn't making it up, Vice President Harris didn't make it up, it is there in black and white."

What they all have to do to claim DeSantis is wrong is cling to the detail that what Kamala Harris claimed and Calderón alluded to, is found within the curriculum course guides – in one solitary sentence. That the sprawling curriculum details all of the horrors of slavery is inconsequential to the fact-checkers.

Recommended

Remember the Man Accused of Murdering Four University of Idaho Students? Well... Madeline Leesman
Bill Maher: 'This Is What I F***ing Hate About the Left' Madeline Leesman

Both Kinds of Standards – THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • In a way, this was a cagey move, as she is an expert in disinformation.

If you do not immediately know Apoorva Mandavilli by name, there are three details to bring you up to speed: She is considered a New York Times Covid "Expert," has routinely put out grossly inaccurate Covid information, and has never incurred the wrath of the pro-vax pandemic media police.

The reason for this last detail is that her errors were in the direction the press favored, meaning she was overhyping the severity of the virus and thus would drive more people to get vaccinated. Now, we see that not only has Mandavilli never suffered cancellation or any similar blowback for her misinformation, but she is speaking at Harvard University as an expert on misinformation during the pandemic. Seriously:

To improve trust in public health agencies, officials must have a clear and accurate communications strategy to encourage cooperation and head off rumors and suspicions, said Mandavilli. Leaders should also acknowledge what went wrong with their messaging last time and be more transparent and forthcoming about the information and data they have. Anti-vaxxers and others "benefited from mistrust engendered by early stumbles in messaging" about the virus and prevention, she said. 

Say, here's a suggestion – maybe your evil anti-vaxxers would not be so empowered if you had not been caught repeatedly lying. Among her massive stumbles, Mandavilli declared the now probable lab leak theory was rooted in racism, that 900,000 children had been hospitalized with Covid (it was just over 60,000 at the time), and 4,000 kids died from the Covid-influenced Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome when in truth it was less than 70 cases.

The New York Times was never deplatformed, and Mandavilli was never fired. Nor was she ever deplatformed…or even had her account muted.

Today, she is an expert on misinformation.

Presentation Paradox – CNN

Cassidy Hutchinson is in the news again. You recall she was the former White House aide who delivered the stirring, dramatic testimony for the January 6 Commission about how Donald Trump wrestled Secret Service agents inside the official SUV to grab the steering wheel and go to the U.S. Capitol that fateful day. It was also testimony that was eventually laughed out of consideration as it took little time to expose this all as unproven garbage completely refuted by people who were actually in the vehicle that day.

Well, she is back to sell a book – and tell more falsehoods, it seems. After being called out by Rep. Matt Gaetz for lying about the two of them being involved in the past, she spoke with Jake Tapper about her release, and the man who constantly lectures about the truth and facts was positively enthralled with the claims made by this woman who has displayed an aversion to the truth…and facts:

In her new book “Enough,” former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson paints the closing days of the Trump White House as even more chaotic and lawless than she previously disclosed in her shocking televised testimony last summer. President Donald Trump lashes out unpredictably and makes wild demands. Chief of staff Mark Meadows leaks classified documents to friendly right-wing media figures and burns documents.

Nowhere will we see Mr. Tapper challenge her on details nor bring up the disproven testimony she gave last summer. Nope, just wholesale swallowing of all that she serves up.

Pulitzer Prize Nomination – WASHINGTON POST

It never fails to deliver head-shaking chuckles when elitist journalists bravely leave their insulated bubbles and venture out into the scary wilds of this country. We still laugh when the Super Bowl was held in Atlanta a few years back, and CBS News discovered the exotic mysteries and arcane lingo found at Waffle House. 

The latest comes from Molly Hennesey-Fiske, who went down to Texas in Jane Goodall fashion only to discover that (GASP!) people have guns all over the place down there!

Now, Molly has been in numerous violent arenas in her career, so the need for this deep exploration as if it is some kind of revelation to people makes little sense, and the whole enterprise is delivered as if this gun culture in Texas is a problem, without ever actually displaying a problem.

Pathological Media Amnesia – MSNBC

  • That the man is likely to forget your advice within a minute should tip you off to something.

On "Morning Joe," they continue to be deeply concerned with the fact that people are noticing the doddering nature of our President Silveralert. It seems the under-caffeinated crew on the morning show has hit upon a sterling idea that is a surefire winner in the presidential campaign. 

They say the octagenarian Biden should begin mocking Donald Trump over his age…even as he is years younger than the man renowned for wandering off aimlessly from official appearances.

"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation, where Brad Slager looks to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.