In Thursday’s edition of liberal hypocrisy, long-time liberal news anchor and deceptive video editor Katie Couric bemoaned to the New York Daily News that fake news is currently “tearing” the U.S. “apart at the seams” with “quite educated” friends falling for fake stories while assigning no blame to the liberal media establishment she’s been a part of for decades.
Couric’s fears came just over a year after being embarrassingly exposed for spreading fake news by deceptively editing an interview with Second Amendment activists as part of her gun control documentary Under the Gun. Later, accusations were also made about an obesity documentary Couric participated in.
Daily News journalist Spencer Dukoff made no mention of this, acting as her personal publicist ahead of Couric co-hosting “OZY Fest, a one-day music and politics event happening in Central Park Saturday” featuring Jeb Bush, Malcolm Gladwell, plus liberals Samantha Bee, Jill Biden, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.).
On fake news, Dukoff teed up Couric:
Still, little has prepared the world-famous journalist for the phenomenon she says is currently “tearing [America] apart at the seams”: fake news.
“I remember I got sent a lot of stories from friends who were quite educated and were like, ‘Did you see this?’” Couric tells the Daily News. “And I would say, ‘Come on, you're kidding, right? This is BS.’”
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But as long as fake news continues to proliferate freely, Couric says, it's difficult to dive deeper on important issues.
“We're not doing enough of a good job of breaking down complicated issues and helping people really understand them,” Couric admits.
According to Dukoff, Couric went onto lament that fake news will continue to grow until the American people agree on certainly basic facts.
Leaving aside the fact that Couric’s career with NBC’s Today and the CBS Evening News of spinning liberal talking points as facts, Dukoff continued
“[Americans] are so divided that it's hard for us to come up with solutions and find commonalities,” Couric says. “And there's vitriol spewed by both sides at people who disagree with them.”
While Couric avoids assigning much blame to mainstream media — she'd rather focus on the technology that makes it easier to produce and distribute convincing misinformation — she does acknowledge that the “lines have been blurred considerably” between straight reporting and opinion.
At the same time, she believes we've moved past the point where Americans actually want “just the facts.”
Quoting a friend, Couric comments that people are “looking for affirmation and not information.”
Dukoff concluded with more of Couric’s self-described “cheesy” prescriptions for combating fake news:
“We need to be less judgmental and we need to listen,” Couric says. “It doesn't mean you shouldn't adhere to principles or fight for what you believe in. But you also need to acknowledge that people have different experiences and are coming from a different place.”
Over the years, the MRC has produced multiple studies on Couric’s liberal tilt. Along with a 2006 Profile in Bias report, the MRC’s Brent Baker and Rich Noyes compiled some her worst moments from her first year at CBS in September 2007.
Noyes also published a Media Reality Check about Couric on May 18, 2011, which was one day prior to her CBS Evening News departure, which is well worth a peek.
My colleague Geoffrey Dickens also combed the MRC archives for a May 26, 2016 report about Clinton’s pro-gun control activism ahead of Under the Gun (which was published prior to the revelation about her fake news escapade).
