Sometimes, liberal media outlets set themselves up for an obvious joke. The New York Times on Monday announced that it wanted readers to send them examples of political disinformation being spread. You can probably guess that people responded with a variation of “Look in the mirror, New York Times!” It doesn’t help that the Times has been forced to make embarrassing, awkward corrections in the last week on high profile political topics.
The Times headlined the call for examples this way: “If You See Disinformation Ahead of the Midterms, We Want to Hear From You.” The article, which had no byline, asked readers: “As November’s midterm elections approach, The New York Times is looking for examples of online ads, posts and texts that contain political disinformation or false claims and are being deliberately spread on internet platforms to try to influence local, statewide, and federal elections.”
The paper continued: “Times journalists are hoping to use your tips to advance our reporting. If you see a suspicious post or text, please take a screenshot and upload it with the form below.”
If the Times is looking for “political disinformation” or incorrect assertions, why not start with the massive error in a September 18 report on Mark Judge. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Mark Kavanaugh of a sexual assault in the 1980s, claims that Judge witnessed it. But here’s the eventual correction from the Times story on Judge:
Does remember the episode or does not? Kind of an important distinction.
On Friday, the Times published a sleazy article insinuating that United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley wasted $52,000 on curtains. It prompted an outraged and those of the left hammered Haley. The only problem? The curtains were bought during the Obama administration. Here’s the painful correction from the paper:
It’s a shame the Times didn’t ask for readers to spot fake news in past elections, such as in 2008. That year, the Times smeared Republican presidential nominee John McCain by publishing an article (with no evidence) insinuating that the Republican had an affair with a lobbyist. The paper was sued. As the MRC’s Geoff Dickens pointed out: “The Times settled out of court, claiming they never meant to imply...what they implied.”
If you want to report disinformation to the New York Times, go here.
