CNN claimed this year that talk show host Joe Rogan injected himself with horse dewormer after he contracted the coronavirus.
It was a lie. Not a misstatement or an exaggeration, but an outright lie. Rogan did no such thing. Rather, he took the human version of ivermectin, as prescribed by his doctor.
It’s a perfectly normal and safe drug taken by literally billions of people. Yet night after night, CNN told its viewers Rogan had swallowed livestock paste.
This week, Rogan had a chance to confront CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta over the cable network’s dishonest reporting. Gupta admitted eventually in the interview that, yeah, CNN clearly said things that were not true.
It’s time to rethink libel law. The New York Times v. Sullivan regime was the product of a time when people trusted the press to be reasonably professional. That time is ancient history now.
h/t Glenn