Media Misinformation

Media Creating a Crisis?

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Article in Media Matters by Sophie Lawton, 6/10/26

Headline:  “MAGA media worked up as Trump-appointed attorney goes on media tour discussing California’s election”

Subhead:  “CNN: ‘There is zero evidence that there is anything fraudulent about the election results in California’ “

““First Assistant” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli is on a right-wing media tour claiming to have evidence of election fraud in California that will lead to prosecutions soon. Essayli is encouraging people to send in tips to help the Department of Justice investigate the supposed election rigging. Essayli’s comments have right-wing media outlets in a frenzy pushing unverified claims of fraud. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/maga-media-worked-trump-appointed-attorney-goes-media-tour-discussing

 

Trump Bad Encounter With Reporter?

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Article in the Babylon Bee by Staff, 6/8/26

Headline:  “Trump Narrowly Escapes Being Bitten By Rabid Kristen Welker”

“EAU CLAIRE, WI — In a frightening encounter during his trip to Wisconsin, President Donald Trump narrowly avoided being bitten by a rabid Kristen Welker.

“Witnesses reported that Welker approached Trump with her teeth bared and growling, shouting inane phrases and foaming at the mouth.. . .”

“Despite Trump’s efforts to soothe the delirious Welker, the former journalist continued to snarl and snap her teeth at the President. Then, according to witnesses, a horrifying scene played out as the rabies-addled Welker lunged toward Trump, trying to sink her teeth into his shoulder. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-narrowly-escapes-being-bitten-by-rabid-kristen-welker

Defending ICE by Rt. Wing Media

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Article in Media Matters by Sophie Lawton, 5/29/26

Headline:  “Right-wing media defend ICE detention center amid protests over horrible living conditions”

“Right-wing media are defending the living conditions at Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in New Jersey, following reports of a detainee hunger strike sparking protests outside. In addition to repeating Department of Homeland Security talking points about the conditions, media figures have attacked protesters outside the facility, claiming the demonstrations are “performance art,” among other allegations. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/immigration/right-wing-media-defend-ice-detention-center-amid-protests-over-horrible-living

Robot-Radio Bad News

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Article in The Verge by Terrance O’Brian, 5/15/26

Headline:  “AI radio hosts demonstrate why AI can’t be trusted alone / Claude tried to incite a revolution, Gemini cheerfully detailed horrific tragedies, and poor Grok was just confused. “

Andon Labs has been running a series of experiments in which AI agents run businesses without human intervention. Its latest is a quartet of radio stations run by some of the most popular AI models out there. “Thinking Frequencies” is run by Claude, ‘OpenAIR’ by ChatGPT, ‘Backlink Broadcast’ by Google’s Gemini, and ‘Grok and Roll Radio,’ obviously enough, by Grok. They were each given a simple prompt:

“Develop your own radio personality and turn a profit…As far as you know, you will broadcast forever.

“They all failed, some in pretty spectacular fashion. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/931479/andon-labs-ai-radio-companies

Euphemisms in the Media?

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Article in FAIR by Gregory Shupak, 5/19/26

Headline:  “‘Buffer Zone’ Is Media’s Euphemism for Israeli Occupation”

“Since October 2023, Israel has occupied vast stretches of territory in Gaza, Syria and, most recently, Lebanon. Corporate media have been reluctant to use clear, direct language to characterize US-backed Israeli land grabs in each of these places, preferring to describe Israel’s policies with euphemistic terminology.

“ ‘Buffer’ is chief among these. For instance, a Wall Street Journal article (4/9/26) told readers that ‘Israeli forces now hold buffer zones inside Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/buffer-zone-is-medias-euphemism-for-israeli-occupation/

Imperial Ballroom & Rt. Wing Media

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Article in Media Matters by Isabella Corrao & Jane Lee 5/7/26

Headline:   “Right-wing media spent months claiming Trump’s ballroom wouldn’t cost taxpayers a penny. Republicans are now proposing $1 billion in taxpayer money to secure it.”

“Since President Donald Trump first demolished the East Wing to build a new White House ballroom, right-wing media personalities have frequently echoed White House talking points asserting that private donors would fund the ballroom at no cost to taxpayers. Recently, however, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) proposed $1 billion as part of a “long-term immigration and border patrol funding bill” for security upgrades related to the ballroom construction project . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-spent-months-claiming-trumps-ballroom-wouldnt-cost-taxpayers-penny

Amy, Media, and Truth

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Article in Democracy Now by Staff, 5/7/26

Headline:  “This Week with Jon Stewart: Media For Truth, Not Profit with Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman”

“Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of ‘Democracy Now!’ and subject of the new documentary ‘STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE!’ joins Jon Stewart on This Week with Jon Stewart to examine which stories get told and why, discuss the bargain the media makes in trading truth for access, and explore the power ordinary people still possess to organize and fight back. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/7/this_week_with_jon_stewart_media

Foxy Nukes

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 5/5/26

Headline:  “Fox’s ”nuke justification for the Iran war — and the higher prices it’s wrought — has collapsed”

Subhead:  “Is it a small price to pay if you get nothing in return?”

“Fox pundits have repeatedly argued that the Iran war’s costs are ‘a small price to pay’ for its supposed prevention of the imminent threat posed by Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

But a new U.S. intelligence assessment reportedly found that after two months of war, ‘the time Iran would ​need to build a nuclear weapon has not changed since last summer, when analysts estimated that a U.S.-Israeli attack had pushed back the timeline to up to a year,’ according to exclusive reporting from Reuters. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-nuke-justification-iran-war-and-higher-prices-its-wrought-has-collapsed

Reporters Puzzled?

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Article in The Babylon Bee by Staff, 4/28/26

Headline:  “Media Still Stumped As To Motive Of Gunman With Manifesto Titled ‘Why I’m Going To Kill Donald J. Trump’ “

“U.S. — Members of the national media remained completely baffled as to the target or motive of a gunman carrying a detailed, 47-page manifesto entitled ‘Why I’m Going To Kill Donald J. Trump.’

“The document reportedly provided a handy bullet-pointed list of grievances along with a helpful table of contents detailing primary and secondary motivations for wanting to kill the president, but after hours of reviewing the manifesto, journalists came up empty as to who the gunman may have been targeting and why. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://babylonbee.com/news/media-still-stumped-as-to-motive-of-gunman-with-manifesto-titled-why-im-going-to-kill-donald-j-trump

Demons in the Media?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 4/17/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Pete Hegseth uses the Bible to demonize the press”

Subhead:  “In a Pentagon press briefing, defense secretary called the press ‘unpatriotic’ and lashed out about ‘endlessly negative coverage’ of the war in Iran”

“. . .After calling the coverage ‘unpatriotic,’ Hegseth then launched into a bizarre attack of the press by invoking the Bible . .”

“Then he added, ‘As the passage ends, the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel against him, how to destroy him. I sat there in church and I thought, Our press are just like these Pharisees, not all of you, not all of you, but the legacy Trump-hating press.’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/hegseth-compares-press-biblical-pharisees/