Friday, December 28, 2018
The top worst, most misleading, and funniest headlines of 2018
Click here to listen to this week's segment on Loud & Clear Radio.
Headlines with an * are the ones we managed to fit in in our allotted time slot.
*WORST: After a week of Russian propaganda, I was questioning everything
First of all, isn’t questioning everything a *good thing*, *especially* if you’re a reporter? Second, she claims she spent a week consuming news only from Sputnik’s website, social media, and radio programs. Yet the only program she mentions is Fault Lines with Nixon and Stranahan. No Loud & Clear, no By Any Means Necessary, no nothing else. And while the whole article is about alleged Russian “disinformation”, here are two examples she includes: that Western politicians had supported the Nazis, and that the U.S. supported apartheid. Indeed. And she concedes that “proving disinformation can be impossibly slippery.” In other words, a different point of view or different interpretation of events like what happened in Ukraine is not “disinformation”!
*WORST: How Putin Works to Weaken Faith in the Rule of Law and Our Justice System
“Having long realized that the most effective disinformation is based on a kernel of truth, Moscow latches on to legitimate criticisms of the justice system. Shows like “America’s Lawyer” and the “Criminal Injustice” segment on Sputnik’s “Loud & Clear” often weave genuine concerns and viable grievances in with misleading narratives. Important causes are hijacked, making Kremlin-linked outlets appear to be the champions of justice reform in the United States while, in reality, their programming is designed to exacerbate grievances and weaken our institutions.” Did “Putin” tell Brian and John to air the “Criminal Injustice” segment? Inquiring minds need to know.
*WORST (UTTERLY DISCREDITED): The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies
Denials in 10th paragraph. Since the publication of this story, every single piece of evidence from the allegedly affected companies, including Apple and Google, has proven this story to be a complete fabrication. But the attack on Chinese tech, most notably on Huawei, continues apace.
*WORST (UTTERLY DISCREDITED): Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy
An utterly discredited story, but not before headlines like “What it would mean if Manafort and Assange met in 2016” appeared in the Washington Post.
WORST: Putin’s gamble is paying off big-time
Remarkable, even if you were to believe (which is simply assumed in this column) that Putin was responsible for Russian “meddling” and that those efforts were responsible for Trump’s election, both remarkably dubious assertions. The article compares the pros and cons — the cons for Russia are weapons to Ukraine, bigger defense budget, seized Russian compounds never returned, sanctions, etc. Facts. The pros for Russia (the “gamble paying off big-time”) are words — Trump trashes US politicians but never criticizes Putin, talked Russia (via Flynn) into not immediately retaliating for Obama’s expulsion of Russian diplomats (wait, wasn’t that a GOOD thing for the U.S.), etc.
RELATED HEADLINE FROM THIS WEEK: It’s official. We lost the Cold War.
East Germany is no more, NATO is on Russia’s borders, Russia is now a capitalist country, but according to Dana Milbank “we lost the Cold War”.
WORST: Video Fact Check: 8 Putin Claims Regarding the Kerch Strait Incident
What is "Polygraph"? "Polygraph.info is a fact-checking website produced by Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty." In other words, it's the U.S. government. But it shows up in the Google News “Fact Check” column, which is how I found it. So Google is allowing the U.S. government to “fact check” the news. It was bad enough when they enlisted the right-wing Weekly Standard as one of their handful of approved fact-checkers. But now the U.S. government?
WORST: BBC Headline that began as “Israeli airstrikes ‘kill woman and baby’” becomes, 10 minutes later, “Gaza airstrikes ‘kill woman and child’ after rockets hit Israel”
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs complained about the first headline to the BBC, claiming “This title is a deliberate misrepresentation of reality ( that’s the polite equivalent of “ this is a LIE”, if you don’t get it). Israelis were targeted by Hamas and IDF acts to protect them.Change it IMMEDIATELY!!!” And they did, to a headline that is *really* a misrepresentation of reality.
WORST: N Korea 'providing materials for Syria chemical weapons'
Headline is contradicted by the very first sentence, which says that the “acid-resistant tiles, valves and pipes” COULD be used for that purpose. Totally reminiscent of the “aluminum tubes” lie that helped bring us the Iraq War. “While the seized items "do not appear on any control lists", they included "materials that can be used to build bricks for the interior walls of [a] chemical factory", the report noted.”
WORST: ‘We bombed you to save you’ – NATO head Stoltenberg speaks about 1999 bombings on visit to Serbia
Can’t fault the headline although it’s actually a paraphrase of what he said (“I stressed that we did this [bombing Serbia] to protect civilians and to stop the Milosevic regime”); it’s the story that’s disgusting.
The classic "destroying the village in order to save it" language. No coverage of the speech in any US media including the WaPo or NYT. Many hundreds to thousands of Serbians were killed in the bombing; including 16 killed when Radio Television Serbia was bombed.
WORST: Austin bomber was frustrated with his life, authorities say
Poor guy! He was frustrated with his life?? Well then obviously placing seven bombs, some targeting Black and Latina folks is clearly the solution. Just another in a long line of articles whitewashing Caucasian terrorists (and not even labelling them terrorists).
*MISLEADING: Mail bomb suspect made numerous references on Facebook to Russian associates and echoed pro-Kremlin views
Headline could have been “Mail bomb suspect drove van covered in pro-Trump bumper stickers”, but no. His “Russian associates” are actual Russians he knows, and in addition to referring to his “Russian brothers”, he also refers to his “Italian brothers”…something you won’t learn until the 12th paragraph. And his “pro-Kremlin” views are simply his support for Russian and Syrian efforts to battle terrorists in Syria, a word the WaPo insists of putting in scare quotes, as if it isn’t a fact that both Al Qaeda and ISIS have had a major presence in Syria.
*MISLEADING: Syrians stream out of a Damascus suburb as it is overrun by government forces
"Stream out" "Overrun" makes it sound like their fleeing from government forces. In fact, the opposite is true. They finally have a chance to escape from rebel-held areas.
*MISLEADING (and ironically funny): Saudi 'Prince Charming' Mohammed bin Salman comes to Hollywood
BBC in its headline calls MbS "Prince Charming". That's not a quote from anyone other than BBC. In fact it's the opposite, because the only reference to that nickname in the article is a CodePink protester carrying a sign saying ""bin Salman is no Prince Charming"!!!
MISLEADING: Study shows 60% of Britons believe in conspiracy theories
“The most widespread conspiracy belief in the UK, shared by 44% of people, was that “even though we live in what’s called a democracy, a few people will always run things in this country anyway”.” So recognizing that you live in an oligarchy is now a “conspiracy theory”.
MISLEADING: Russian Trolls Were Sloppy, but Indictment Still ‘Points at the Kremlin’
Note ‘Points at the Kremlin’ is in quotes. Who said that? One journalist you’ve never heard of. If anything, most of the article says exactly the opposite, e.g., “The fact that there were no senior government officials named probably helps Russia, said Mr. Frolov, because that echoed statements from Mr. Putin last summer that any election meddling was the work of eager Russian civilians rather than government agents.”
MISLEADING: John McCain: Hero at home, hawk in Middle East
No, he was a hawk EVERYWHERE.
MISLEADING: A non-Castro may soon become Cuba's president. He's endorsed by less than one percent of its voters
That’s because he’s elected from a constituency, and then the National Assembly selects one of its members to be the president. It’s the same thing as in most parliamentary systems. In 2017, Jeremy Corbyn got 40,000 votes in a nation of 66 million people. That’s less than a tenth of a percent of the population!
*FUNNIEST: Hawaii's governor couldn't correct the false missile alert sooner because he forgot his Twitter password
*FUNNIEST (AND MISLEADING): A lot of the criticism of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' actually came from Russian trolls and bots, new study finds
They studied 206 Twitter accounts which tweeted negatively (basically racist and misogynist content) about The Last Jedi; 16 (a whopping 8%) of them "appear to be Russian trolls, or at least possess several of the Russian troll characteristics presented above"; those characteristics include "Russian trolls usually target “very specific world events” and “political threads”" and "prefer the Twitter web client over the mobile client". "They predominantly report their location (if at all) to be in the U.S., Germany and Russia"
*FUNNIEST: Trump says he has 'natural instinct for science' when it comes to climate change
"You have scientists on both sides of it. My uncle was a great professor at MIT for many years, Dr. John Trump. And I didn’t talk to him about this particular subject, but I have a natural instinct for science, and I will say that you have scientists on both sides of the picture."
FUNNIEST: Is Masha and the Bear a Putin stooge? Critics claim cartoon with 4.18m subscribers is made by Kremlin to subvert children
Times UK headline: Children’s show is propaganda for Putin, say critics
Only 2 critics are actually quoted—a lecturer at Tallinn University's Communication School who claims that the bear symbolises Russia and was designed to place a positive image of the country in children's minds. The lecturer, Priit Hobemagi, said that the series was a 'beautifully presented' part of a campaign that is dangerous for Estonian national security. Also an intelligence expert from The University of Buckingham told The Times: 'Masha is feisty, even rather nasty, but also plucky. She punches above her weight. It's not far-fetched to see her as Putinesque.' Last line in the article: The show receives no state funding.
*RELATED FUNNIEST: Russian operatives were promoting sex toys on Instagram to sow discord in the US
#NotTheOnion, this is meant quite seriously. Even funnier than the idea promoted in the headline was the original headline hidden in the URL: "Instagram was a massively important tool for Russian Operatives" “The merchandise could have provided the IRA with some income, but more importantly, offered the operatives access to buyers’ personal data, including payment information, and help with ad targeting in the future. The Russian operatives’ activity on Instagram only increased after the 2016 US presidential election.”
Actually the only "massive tools" are the people who promote or believe this nonsense.
*NOT THE FUNNIEST HEADLINE, BUT THE FUNNIEST LINE THAT FOLLOWED:
Pence’s Olympic mission: Countering North Korean propaganda
“Before Air Force Two touched down Thursday at Seoul’s Osan Air Base, Pence had transformed himself into something of an anti-propaganda warrior — a mild-mannered, if resolute, superhero who arrived in South Korea on the eve of the Winter Games to single-handedly rebuff North Korea’s public relations efforts.” !!!
FUNNIEST: What Could Kill Booming U.S. Economy? ‘Socialists,’ White House Warns
A report from the Council of Economic Advisers compares Bernie Sanders to Chairman Mao, and warns that pickup trucks cost more in Sweden.
A report from the Council of Economic Advisers compares Bernie Sanders to Chairman Mao, and warns that pickup trucks cost more in Sweden.
From the report: “The socialist narrative names the oppressors of the vulnerable, such as the bourgeoisie (Marx), kulaks (Lenin), landlords (Mao), and giant corporations (Sanders and Warren).” Other great quotes: Comparing Mao described “the ruthless economic exploitation and political oppression of the peasants by the landlord class” with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren saying “large corporations . . . exploit human misery and insecurity, and turn them into huge profits” and “giant corporations . . . exploit workers just to boost their own profits.” And “Speculators” are also blamed for high prices and other social problems, as by Marx, Stalin, Senator Sanders, Senator Warren, and Fidel Castro, who said that they “have turned the planet into a giant casino.”
Not mentioned in the article (or in the report): China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty in the last 30 years, more than 70% of all people in the world who have been lifted out of poverty. And the pickup truck thing? It isn’t really about the cost. It’s about the cost of ownership which basically means gasoline, and that’s because gasoline is much more expensive in Europe due to higher taxes, and it has nothing to do with “socialism”.
FUNNIEST this set of two headlines from the NYT, 4 months apart: ‘Warning Lights Are Blinking Red,’ Top Intelligence Officer Says of Russian Attacks
Mystery of the Midterm Elections: Where Are the Russians?
FUNNIEST:
Elon Musk decries UAW union, promises employees frozen yogurt and rollercoaster machine
Not the Onion!
NEW HEADLINES FOR THIS WEEK:
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines (WMMFH) for Dec. 28, 2018
Arms Sales to Saudis Leave American Fingerprints on Yemen’s Carnage
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/25/world/middleeast/yemen-us-saudi-civilian-war.html
On the one hand, ok, fingerprints do often identify the murderer. But “fingerprints” just sounds so dainty, and, as the article itself makes clear, are *way* more extensive than just arms sales.
How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually.
Nonsense. Yes, there are bot farms boosting views on YouTube, or giving people like Roy Moore fake Russian followers on Twitter. But the idea that "a lot" of "the Internet" is fake is nonsense. 99% of people spend 99% percent of their time interacting with real websites doing real things, including buying things, interacting with their friends, watching videos, playing games, reading news (almost all of it real), and everything else that happens on the Internet.
