On Campus Gaza Protests, Media Let Police Tell the Story—Even When They’re Wrong
There are plenty of ways to report on the arrests of protestors without relying on the word of police officials.
Neil deMause
Calling Both Sides ‘Spoiled’ in Baseball Lockout Ignores How Owners Forced Labor War
As baseball’s opening day looms nearer without a new labor agreement, the nation’s sports media are pointing fingers squarely at both sides,
Math Is Hard—but Vital for Understanding Vaccine Risks
Providing all the numbers is vital, because in a world where both policymakers and individuals are trying to decide whether vaccines are effective and safe, the only way to do so is with math.
A Covid Crisis or New Normal? Depends if It’s Australia or US
While the most important lesson for US readers might be that a major Australian city is under near-total lockdown for infection rates that in the US can’t even get elected officials to require mask-wearing, virtually none of the media coverage made this comparison.
US Media Can’t Think How to Fight Fires Without $1-an-Hour Prison Labor
Coverage dances around the fact that there are plenty of workers available in a state with 2.5 million people currently unemployed.
Melbourne’s ‘State of Disaster’ Is Covid as Usual in the US
While the most important lesson for US readers might be that a major Australian city is under near-total lockdown for infection rates that in the US can’t even get elected officials to require mask-wearing, virtually none of the media coverage made this comparison.
What Media Aren’t Telling You About Reopening Risks
While the question of how quickly to reopen will affect potentially millions of lives, equally important is asking what science can tell us about how to reopen.
Top 16 Euphemisms US Headline Writers Used for Police Beating the Shit Out of People
“After Curfew, Detroit Police Act Aggressively to Disperse Protesters Who Refused to Leave” (Detroit Free Press, 5/31/20) “Minneapolis Officers Use More Aggressive Tactics Against Protesters as Rallies Flare Around US” (NBC News, 5/31/20) “An Agitated Trump Encourages Governors to Use Aggressive Tactics on Protesters” (CNN, 6/1/20) “Police Turn More Aggressive Against Protesters and Bystanders […]
US Media Failed to Factcheck Sweden’s Herd Immunity Hoax
A new study put another dent in the Swedish government’s claims that it’s been able to get Covid-19 under control without stay-at-home orders.
US Media Downplay Overseas Coronavirus Lessons to Focus on Easter Bunny
Ardern’s Easter Bunny comments got the kind of widespread coverage that has largely been absent for an important piece of the pandemic puzzle: What can nations that are at the center of the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, like the US and much of Europe, learn from those that were in the first wave, particularly China, South Korea and Hong Kong?
Trump’s Nonsense Goes Viral as Scientists Warn of Disaster
The more that news reports focus on parsing the words of elected officials rather than going to the sources who can tell us what science says is really going on, the more they do a disservice not just to readers, but to the cause of stopping a pandemic.
Limiting Trump’s Screen Time Isn’t ‘Censorship,’ It’s Journalism
Choosing to keep cameras trained on the president necessarily means devoting less time to other stories that might actually inform viewers about the course of the pandemic and how to fight it—whether it’s talking to infectious disease experts on what measures are necessary to limit the death toll, or reporting on other nations’ successes and failures.
Presenting Trump and Science as Equals Isn’t Balanced, It’s Dangerous
Reporting on Trump’s statements ended up soft-pedaling the dangers of the economy-first approach, and denying readers important information on what will likely happen if the White House tries to lift restrictions too soon.
Media Dutifully Report Trump’s Fiddling as Coronavirus Burns Through World
The more that news reports focus on parsing the words of elected officials rather than going to the sources who can tell us what science says is really going on, the more they do a disservice not just to readers, but to the cause of stopping a pandemic.
Reading About Coronavirus Without Scaring Yourself Too Much (or Too Little)
There are a few tricks that can make the miasma of coronavirus coverage easier to fight through. Some of these are just good media literacy, while some are more specific to keeping sane during public health scares in particular.
Burning Australia Gave Us Shocking Images, Few Solutions
Media have mostly remained resistant to addressing which human policies helped lead us to Australia’s fire disaster, and what will be needed to prevent matters from getting much, much worse.
Media on Climate Crisis: Don’t Organize, Mourn
While US media have indeed ramped up their coverage of the climate crisis, they continue to give short shrift to what are arguably the most important factors for determining our future: what specific human practices are responsible for the changing climate, why carbon emissions continue to rise, and what we can and should be doing about it.
Australia Wildfire Coverage Is Long on Koalas, Short on Causes
Media have mostly remained resistant to addressing which human policies helped lead us to Australia’s fire disaster, and what will be needed to prevent matters from getting much, much worse.
NYT Reports on ‘Perception’ of Subway Danger—but Can’t Perceive Racism
Inchoate fears about public transit—and the people who use it—have a long history, both in New York and other US cities.
Der Spiegel Shows Danger of Liking Good Stories More Than True Stories
While everything about the story of Claas Relotius, the award-winning Der Spiegel journalist who turned out to have been faking everything from quotes to geographic details for years, should be alarming to anyone who cares about responsible journalism, possibly the most disturbing part comes near the end of the German magazine’s mea culpa about the […]
