Thursday, June 18, 2020
Headlines for June 19, 2020
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for June 19, 2020
*As U.S. seethes over race, Trump calls out ‘evil of slavery’
Paragraph 5: “Trump also shut down Esper’s attempt to begin a public debate on removing the names of Confederate Army officers — some of whom trained at West Point — from military bases, an idea gaining momentum across the country.” Just that, no mention of Trump’s claim that Benning, Hood, and Bragg are part of the “Great American Heritage”.
*Trump at West Point stresses unity amid 'turbulent' times
Here’s the transcript:
The sole mention of unity: “You exemplify the power of shared national purpose to transcend all differences and achieve true unity.” So he’s telling the cadets they’re unified. The rest of the country? Not if Trump can help it.
*Trump’s effort to resist gay rights runs into his Supreme Court pick
Subhead: While President Trump has celebrated the idea of social change, his administration has repeatedly opted to resist or roll back protections for LGBT people
Huh?
*Here Are the 99 U.S. Cities Where Protesters Were Tear-Gassed
Cities where police admit they used tear gas. Washington, D.C. is not included. Not just the headline is wrong, though. “Several police departments The Times reached out to denied using tear gas. But authorities said that substances like “chemical irritants,” “chemical agents” or “pepper balls” were deployed. Semantic murkiness does not typically matter to those who study and monitor tear gas use. To them CS (actually a powder) and a variety of pepper-derived compounds qualify as tear gas.” So the Times knows that the claims made by, e.g., DC, are bogus, but still chose to use the police definition and not their own.
From a few weeks ago:
*GOP Plans Stronger Role in Who Gets To Vote
NYT Front page, 5/19
*Online: Freed by Court Ruling, Republicans Step Up Effort to Patrol Voting
*And now this week: The Rising Trump Lawyer Battling to Reshape the Electorate
The NYT comes up with yet another euphemism for “voter suppression”. Now it’s “reshaping the electorate”.
*Victor in Syria’s War, Bashar al-Assad Faces Economic Meltdown
First mention of the sanctions which have been crippling Syria for years (Since 2004: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/syria.aspx)? Paragraph six, with this misleading statement: “And strict American economic sanctions that take effect Wednesday are likely to make matters worse.” The article finally returns to a more detailed description of the new sanctions, the Caesar sanctions, in paragraph 38 (!), but still makes no mention of existing sanctions. And, mentions of the presence of U.S. troops in Syria preventing Syria from utilizing its own oil? Zero. Mentions of U.S. backing for the war which helped produce this situation? Zero. The war is over, the U.S. was never there.
*Russian disinformation operation relied on forgeries, fake posts on 300 platforms, new report says
300 platforms? Really? There are 300 social media platforms? Russia is spreading disinformation, but it’s not as effective as the 2016 IRA campaign. “Secondary Infektion was not as effective as better-known operations, such as the divisive social media campaign waged by the Internet Research Agency during the 2016 presidential election.” The one which spent a whopping $44K on FB ads and has never been demonstrated, even with anecdotal evidence, to have changed not a single vote.
A Conspiracy Made in America May Have Been Spread by Russia
Subhead: The Americans who pushed a conspiracy theory the night of the Iowa caucuses have migrated to coronavirus conspiracies on Twitter, with help from a very Russia-friendly account.
“Russia-friendly account”≠”Russia” “Ann Louise La Clair, a self-described Los Angeles filmmaker with a Russian Twitter following. Her tweets praising RT advertisements and protesting American airstrikes in Syria — a key Russian ally — had previously been picked up by RT, the Kremlin-owned news outlet.” She’s just a Sanders supporter. Some Russian guy, with no known connection to the Russian government, retweeted her. “@DanWals83975326 continues to play his part. He amplifies Mr. Sanders and Representative Tulsi Gabbard, the Democrat from Hawaii who is a favorite of the Russian press, while slamming Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the D.N.C. He applauded Joe Rogan, the podcaster and onetime Sanders supporter, when Mr. Rogan announced that he would vote for Mr. Trump over Mr. Biden.” (Gabbard is barely tweeting any more, by the way).
Who’s a Bot? Who’s Not?
Is Twitter really dominated by bots? No.
