If the current political season is any indication (and it probably is) then there is plenty of evidence that too many people have lost their freaking minds. Two months ago, one of my friends on Facebook linked to this Gallup survey headlined: "25% in U.S. Say Neither Candidate Would Be a Good President." My succinct […]
Our betters in the mainstream media often tout their layers and layers of fact-checkers, their professionalism and training. Unfortunately, far too often we see reporting that can be described as media malpractice. Media malpractice at Newsweek: Does the story support the headline? Last week, before President Donald Trump nominated circuit court Judge Amy Coney Barrett […]
On Friday, Reuters news service's fact-checking unit took on a meme going around on social media that lists five "facts" [scare quotes via Reuters] about Sen. Joe Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris. I won't go into all of the claims of this particular meme. Instead, I want to focus on one contentious fact about Harris' […]
In the past decade, as media organizations have aggressively downsized in the face of a collapse in advertising revenues, copy editors have been among the first to get the ax. Misspellings, comma splices, rudimentary fact-checking and the art of good headline writing have all been seen as an unnecessary extravagance in times of ever-decreasing budgets. […]
The past couple of weeks have been especially bad for media fact-checking. Two incidents really stand out as the ostensibly unbiased, objective national media have gone all-in on their war on President Donald Trump, their own credibility be damned. Media Not Interested in Fact-Checking Sen. Tammy Duckworth Two Sundays ago, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) appeared […]
I'm scheduled to make an appearance on Dave Congalton's Hometown Radio show this evening to talk about this op-ed by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and the fallout that resulted in Editorial Page Editor James Bennet's ouster at the hands of mostly younger, woke journalists. I'll update this post with the audio today or tomorrow when […]
Another week, another entry in the annals of media bias, political speech and fake news. At last week's State of the Union Address to Congress, President Donald Trump channelled his inner reality show persona and crafted a number of applause lines by recognizing several invited guests whom you really can't help but tip your hat […]
Yesterday, part of my substitute teaching gig at the local high school was basically monitoring study hall for a couple periods and making sure that the classroom doesn't turn into "Lord of the Flies." As I monitored the class, I also continued looking for something resembling full-time work. Writing, reporting, public relations, marketing, editing, photography […]
It was a great, feel-good story that dropped right in the laps of the Des Moines Register two weeks ago and they turned it into one of the most glaring examples of bad journalism since the week before. ESPN's College Gameday was in Ames Iowa for the annual intrastate rivalry between the Iowa State Cyclones and […]
Over a two week period, gunmen killed 3 in Gilroy, Calif., 22 in El Paso, Texas, and 9 in Dayton, Ohio. So-called "assault weapons" (aka scary black rifle-looking guns) were used in all three attacks and the shooters had obvious mental health problems. As was entirely predictable, the media immediately focused on guns, guns, guns. […]