A case in point: the smear that was promulgated when I left CBS. It was often incorrectly reported that I told CBS management I was quitting due to liberal media bias. That false story turned out to be convenient for both political sides, and largely survives today. It simply wasn’t rooted in fact. And I don’t recall reporters even asking me whether it was true. Once a few articles reported that it was, others simply copied the claim and adopted it as if established fact, eventually without attribution. Now there would be no point in trying to clarify it. After all, Wikipedia says it’s true. No going back from that.
Powerful smear groups and certain interests—including some within CBS at the time—started the narrative that I was “conservative,” not because they necessarily believed it, but as a tool to “controversialize” the reporting I was doing that was contrary to powerful interests. The idea is that if I can be portrayed as a partisan, then my reporting can be more easily dismissed.
Read the whole thing.
PRIVATE CHOKEPOINT: Leftist activists have forced a vote at the Mastercard AGM next month to establish an Orwellian “Human Rights Committee” aimed at cutting off the rights of anyone they disagree with. The initial aim is to choke off the income stream to right-wing activists. If this sounds familiar, it should.
LAYERS OF EDITORS AND FACT-CHECKERS: WaPo, Atlantic Rush To Change Stories After Labeling Louis Farrakhan ‘Far Right’ In Facebook Ban Story.
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: Where Was All of This Skepticism about Beto Last Year?
Just think of the media as Democratic Party operatives with bylines, and it all makes sense.
h/t SG