Thursday, June 10, 2021

Well watcha know 'bout that

National press reacts to latest debunked story
Turns out that last year's story told in the media, by Democrats, leftwing pundits, and even religious leaders, about Donald Trump sending the racist police to brutalize a peaceful crowd in Washington D.C. so that Trump could get a photo-op with a Bible was  - wait for it - wrong.  Turns out the claim that it had nothing to do with Trump and it was based on a perimeter fencing and construction was true.  The press, once more, was wrong.

And, as can be expected 99.99% of the time, it was wrong in a way that was detrimental to conservatives and Republicans, or helpful to liberal Democrats.  When was the last time a debunked major news story was one that, if not caught, made a Democrat look bad?  When was the last time a retracted story was one that was used to make a liberal narrative or leftwing advocate look bad?

Yet how often do we hear of stories that need to be corrected or outright denied that were used to make conservatives, Republicans, Trump, traditional Christians, or other non-leftist groups look bad?  I long ago lost track.  That's why I have a tough time believing it's all a coincidence from a fair, unbiased and neutral national press that keeps making these mistakes regarding one side of the aisle.  

UPDATE: Just in case the one link isn't enough, here is a story on CBS saying the same thing. Again, the #2,384,983,249,234,824,930,925 instance in which a national press narrative that makes conservatives or Republicans look back turns out to be false.  I'm still looking for an example of a similar case that made liberals or Democrats look bad.  If I find one, I'll let you know. 

UPDATE II:  I've been informed that this post proves I'm a dyed in the wool Trump cultist.  In case anyone else makes that mistake, let me clarify.  I'm not interested in Trump, the Bible photo-op, or anything else.  My point is, the Trump administration insisted he did not, contrary to overwhelming media reporting and a hefty amount of leftwing punditry, order the Washington police to brutalize a bunch of peaceful protesters.  That was an ongoing accusation up through the election, buoyed by the media's continual repeating of the narrative: Trump sends cops to attack peaceful BLM protesters.  I'm at pains to think of a major press outlet that didn't cover it that way.  Now we know that was false, and the Trump explanation, at least in this case, was correct.  My point is, given that whenever we see these retractions and false stories they almost always are stories that, if left alone, make those on the Right look bad, is it really that insane to think it's more than just honest journalists making mistakes that only coincidently make one side look bad? 

7 comments:

  1. It has been my experience that whenever left-leaning folks complain about the news, it is usually about failing to be as praise-filled as they could. "Why didn't the news mention that our new budget plan will ALSO provide every american a new puppy in addition to curing cancer??"

    Or to sum up: Liberals often seem to accuse the news of lies of omission. Conservatives just have accusations of the news lying.

    Obviously you know where my sympathies lie (as you so aptly point out).

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    1. Yep. That's an old trick. I've seen those on the Left say they're tough on their own side. Nine times out of ten, however, when you track down their complaints, it's usually along the lines of 'you dared compromise with those reprobates' or 'they still exist don't they!' level of 'complain because not partisan enough. Same with the news. Usually it's because the press hasn't gone tough enough, or has in some way dared to fully align with the dominant progress narrative. For conservatives, they usually wish the press just wasn't dishonest.

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  2. Bonus round.
    http://ace.mu.nu/archives/394194.php

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    1. That must not be important because I haven't seen a major news outlet cover it. Remember, if the news doesn't cover it, it doesn't exist, or isn't important if it does.

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  3. It's not just that whenever there are retractions and corrections they are always to stories that hurt Republicans in their original form. It's that the corrected versions always come long after the stories have done their damage. If a story drops in election season it will never be corrected until after the election is over. Then reporters can rush out and say "see, we're honest because we corrected our misinformation" all while they are in the process of making some new lie.

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    1. Yep. That is also true and a trick I've seen done many times. Even against mounting evidence to the contrary, maintain the narrative until it no longer matters to admit it was false. Once again, why I realize we have no way of knowing what is really happening in the world today.

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  4. Did you notice how the first story had to mention that the protestors were upset about the killing of George Floyd (not to mention mphasizing the fact that he was black) by Minneapolis Police, as if everybody and their pet goldfish wasn't already aware of why there was a bigass protest going on?

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