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The News Liars Warn Against Misinformation, and The New York Times Goes Birther…on a Dog

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jan 18, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

01.18.24

Low Octane Gas Lighting – NBC NEWS

At NBC News, they are setting the table for the election year. Its disinformation and extremism correspondent, Brandy Zadrozny, came out with – you guessed it – a polemic on the ways disinformation can be regarded as a danger this election. 

The instant reaction is that, of course, there is comedy in seeing the disseminators of plenty of mis/disinformation complaining about that very same thing. But there is an additional point of clarity. Here is the headline and opening paragraph from Zadrozny:

Disinformation poses an unprecedented threat to democracy in the United States in 2024, according to researchers, technologists and political scientists. 

Let's look back on just one story from the 2020 election. The media in general tried to claim the Hunter Biden laptop was a false story, AND at the same time, pushed forward the fraudulent letter signed by 51 intelligence community officials insisting that the story was a Russian psy-op. Just that incident alone would invalidate the use of the term "unprecedented" to describe media disinformation.

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Presentation Paradox – WASHINGTON POST

  • Honestly, who among us is even surprised Philip Bump is lecturing against doing research?

Consider first how journalists love to push their academic bonafides and sneer at those who have not properly learned. Now, we get a lesson from one such thinker that attempting to elevate your knowledge is actually the wrong thing to do.

At the Washington Post think tank, we have Philip Bump delivering a lecture that going out and researching topics is a counter-intuitive process. This feels as if Phil is projecting his personal mission statement.

Democrat Custodial Services – NEW YORK MAGAZINE

  • It almost feels like we want to award bonus points for honesty on this one.

Uh, oh, this one slipped by the editors! You can understand why since this is largely a supportive piece concerning New York Mayor Eric Adams attempting to sue the charter bus companies used to deliver immigrants to his sanctuary city.

The magazine thinks it is a wise move by Adams, as he is citing legislation that prevents shipping individuals into the state:

The mayor is suing 17 of the bus companies hired by Abbott for violating Social Service Law 149, an obscure state law designed to punish “any person who knowingly brings, or causes to be brought, a needy person from out of the state into this state for the purpose of making him a public charge.” 

This odd law reference leads us to ask the question: How does this square exactly with the Sanctuary City ordinance? But this is a question you are not allowed to ask in a glowing assessment. Another banned query – What exactly about immigrants arriving leads to saying the mayor is "defending" anything? 

Presentation Paradox – SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL

  • Your offered contradictory evidence has been recognized.

One might expect that the rampant lies told about the state of Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis would be countered with accurate reporting from the media inside the state. Only problem; so much of the media here launches these very missiles of misinformation. Case in point #4,938: The current lie shooting around the media complex that Ron DeSantis is banning the dictionary in schools.

This comes from a school district in the panhandle that is reviewing the books in its schools – ALL of the books – to verify they are in compliance with the new state standards. Scott Travis of the Sun-Sentinel – who should and does know better – is out here spreading the falsehood this "ban" is taking place. He offers a piece from Axios to prove this dictionary "ban" is in effect, except for two mitigating problems. First, the article states the district is reviewing all the books in schools, not banning them. The use of ALL, therefore, includes the dictionary. The second issue is that there is this telling pull quote, deep in the article, that the "Senior Journalist" at the paper provided:

Superintendent Keith Leonard said in a statement shared with Axios on Thursday that 'the dictionary has not been banned in our district.'

Pulitzer Prize Nomination – THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Times is hot on the case of a controversy brewing at the Guinness Book of World Records. This concerns the recent passing of Bobi, said to have been a record-setter (not "Irish") as the oldest living dog, having reached 31 years of age.

But this fact is now in dispute, and we are told the authorities at the Guinness Records repository are investigating the matter as the ruling is put on hold. 

Glossary Over Things – METRO UK

  • Seriously – are we not doing "Phrasing" anymore…?

I'm starting to think the Brits are a tad melodramatic about the weather. Recall this past summer when they were wailing about the unforgivable heat they endured and defied anyone to show them surviving in 85-degree weather?! (We here in Florida had a good chuckle over that.)

Now, they are getting hit with winter conditions that would maybe cause people in Buffalo to pull on a pair of Levis, and this is how they are reacting.

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