Tag Archives: mainstream media

October 31, 2016 · 10:46 am

Mainstream media FAIL: He said, she said and the biggest liar contest

pants-on-fire

PolitiFact is a fact-checking website run by the Tampa Bay Times that focuses on political actors and statements. Politifact classifies statements as True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False, and Pants on Fire.

The Star Tribune published a commentary piece October 28 featuring “The Top 10 whoppers of both leading presidential candidates” as identified by Politifact.com. What’s wrong with that? Plenty.

The clear implication is that both candidates are equally liars. That’s wrong. Even worse, the “everybody is a liar” meme increases cynicism not only about the candidates but about the political system, voting, and the possibility of meaningful choice. Continue reading →

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June 4, 2010 · 10:45 pm

Mainstream meets Twitter meets Gaza Flotilla

A “late-breaking” news item at the end of the 10 p.m. TV newscast said the Rachel Corrie ship, part of the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla,” had been boarded by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). That sent me diving for my computer, to find out what I could.

UPDATE 8:15 a.m. 6/5/2010 Minnesota time: About five hours after the Twitter and news reports described in this post, the Rachel Corrie was, in fact, boarded by the IDF and towed into Ashdod. That would be between 3 and 4 a.m. CDT, between 4 and 5 a.m. EDT, or between 11 a.m. and noon in Jerusalem.

The Twitter-verse was full of news on #RachelCorrie and #flotilla, mostly about the IDF boarding the ship, placing all aboard under arrest, and steering the ship toward Ashdod.  I like Twitter, but consider its reliability very limited, so I headed for more traditional news media. Continue reading →

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