Media Misinformation

Can You ICE the Truth?

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Article in The New Republic by Hafiz Rashid, 1/14/26

Headline:  “DHS Picks Fight With Reporter Who Exposed ICE’s Shoddy Hiring”

Subhead:  “The Department of Homeland Security is pissed after Laura Jedeed revealed how she got a job offer from ICE in just six minutes.”

“The Department of Homeland Security attempted to discredit a journalist Wednesday and was quickly embarrassed.

“On Tuesday, Slate published a bombshell article by Laura Jedeed outlining how she had somehow slipped through ICE’s screening process to be offered a job by the agency despite failing to complete any of the required paperwork, including a background check. The next day, DHS tried to claim Jedeed’s article was ‘such a lazy lie.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/205300/dhs-fight-reporter-exposed-ice-job-hiring

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Article in Democracy Now by Smy Goodman, 1/14/26

Headline:   “Journalist Tests ICE Recruitment; Surprised to Find Herself Hired with No Background Check”

“ ‘They didn’t ask very many questions.’ Independent journalist and U.S. military veteran Laura Jedeed recounts how she was hired as a deportation officer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a six-minute interview at a job fair in Texas, despite never signing any paperwork, not having completed a background check, likely failing a drug test, and publicly sharing her opposition to the Trump administration and its anti-immigrant crackdown. . .”

Listen to the full story at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/14/laura_jedeed_ice

US Media Bias on Venezuela?

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Article in Poynter by Amaris Castillo, 1/12/26

Headline:  “Venezuelan journalists see gaps — and risks — in coverage of Nicolás Maduro’s capture”

Subhead:  “Journalists say U.S. outlets often lack Venezuelan voices and the long-term context needed to explain what comes next”

“. . . For U.S. newsrooms, Maduro’s capture is a dramatic foreign policy story. For Venezuelan journalists, it’s far more complicated. As American outlets work to explain what comes next, many of the journalists with the deepest knowledge of Venezuela are hesitant to speak publicly, fearful of reprisal, skeptical or superficial coverage and unsure whether U.S. media can fully capture the country’s legal and political complexity. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/venezuelan-coverage-nicolas-maduro-capture/

Rt. Wing Media Cheering

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Article in The Guardian by Margaret Sullivan, 1/8/26

Headline: “Some US media are cheerleading Trump’s Venezuela raid. That’s not their job”

Subhead: “An almost admiring feeling pervaded the early coverage – and not just among right-leaning outlets”

“If you believe the early public opinion polls, Americans are uncertain about last weekend’s raid on Venezuela and the seizure of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.

But many in the media seem to be trying to move that wavering needle to approval.   That’s especially true on the right, of course, where Fox News is leading a full-on cheering squad.

Even the right-leaning podcaster Megyn Kelly, a former Fox host herself, said the cable network’s early coverage was like watching Russian propaganda.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/08/us-media-trump-venezuela-raid

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Article in Media Matters by Sophie Lawton, 1/7/26

Headline: “Greenland, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Iran, and more: After Maduro’s capture, right-wing media encourage escalating US involvement around the globe”

“Following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right-wing media figures are pushing for the Trump administration to next target other countries — including Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico — and even to take Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/greenland-colombia-cuba-mexico-iran-and-more-after-maduros-capture-right-wing-media

Fake News for Fake Journalist?

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Article in Daily Beast by Jack Revell, 1/2/26

Headline:  “MAGA’s Favorite ‘Journalist’ Busted Paying to Fake ‘News’”

“The ‘journalist’ at the center of a viral clash over alleged Somalian welfare fraud once paid Hispanic laborers to protest outside the White House in support of President Joe Biden.

“Nick Shirley, 23, is currently being praised and amplified by the MAGA right, including FBI Director Kash Patel and billionaire Elon Musk, for a video purporting to reveal ‘Minnesota’s Billion Dollar Fraud Scandal.’

“While the YouTuber with no journalism background and only a high school-level education claims to ‘bring the truth to all’ of his 1.35 million subscribers, he has previously been shown to be staging his content. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/magas-fav-journalist-paid-hispanic-laborers-for-bizarre-stunt/

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Article in Babylon Bee by Staff, 1/2/26

Headline:  “Republicans Vow To Uncover All Somali Fraud And Then Do Nothing About It Except Fundraise”

“With allegations of money laundering in Minnesota and other states growing by the day, Republican lawmakers in Washington have vowed to uncover all Somali fraud in Minnesota and then do nothing about it except to fundraise for future elections.

“It is absolutely vital that we uncover as much fraud in Minnesota as possible so that we can fundraise off it,’Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. ‘Some of us have elections coming up.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://babylonbee.com/news/republicans-vow-to-uncover-all-somali-fraud-and-then-do-nothing-about-it-except-fundraise

 

No Bones About Media Scanning?

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Article in Raw Story by David Edwards, 1/2/26

Headline: ” ‘What is wrong with journalism?’ MAGA doc slams reporters for believing Trump’s MRI claim”

“Pro-MAGA podcaster Dr. Drew Pinsky lashed out at reporters for believing President Donald Trump’s claim that he had an MRI procedure instead of being tested by CT scan equipment. . .”

” ‘He did not have an MRI. He did not have a CAT scan. He had a coronary calcium score, which is done with a CAT scan machine,” Pinsky said during his Friday broadcast. “They’re so effing ignorant! They don’t know how to ask the right questions!’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.rawstory.com/drew-pinsky-trump-mri/?utm_source=superhead

Right-Wing Host Says Legacy Media Dead

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Article in Mediaite by Zoe Engels, 1/1/26

Headline:  ” ‘Nothing Will Happen at CBS’: Megyn Kelly Declares Legacy Media ‘Dead”

“SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly pronounced the death of legacy media on Thursday, declaring ‘nothing will happen at CBS’ in a post on X.

“She seized the opportunity to slam the network in her reply to a post featuring incoming CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil instructing viewers to make him ‘earn’ their trust.

“ ‘Nothing will happen at CBS,’ Kelly wrote on X. ‘Nothing. Legacy media is dead and evening news has been totally irrelevant for a long time.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/nothing-will-happen-at-cbs-megyn-kelly-declares-legacy-media-dead/

Fake News media “Influencer” Exposed?

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Article in The Intercept by Jonah Valdez, 12/31/25

Headline:  “Right-Wing YouTuber Behind Viral Minnesota Fraud Video Has Long Anti-Immigrant History”

Subhead:  “Before alleging fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community, right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley built a following with anti-immigrant clips.”

“The day after Christmas, far-right YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video claiming to have exposed fraud at Somali-owned day care centers in Minnesota. . .”

“This isn’t the first time the conservative YouTuber has gotten the attention of the Trump administration. . . At age 23, his videos aren’t merely influencing his audiences — they’re also influencing government action. . .”

“ ‘The very real-world consequence is that it’s going to exacerbate the situation that we have in Minnesota right now where we have a lot of people, including U.S. citizens or people with lawful status being arrested and detained by ICE,’ said Ana Pottratz Acosta, who leads the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School.

“The video, she said, reinforces xenophobic tropes about the Somali community, specifically tying the community to fraud. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://theintercept.com/2025/12/31/nick-shirley-videos-minnesota-somali-day-cares-fraud-claims/

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Article in The Hill by Tara Suter, 12/31/25

Headline:  “CNN reporter grills YouTuber whose Minnesota day care video went viral”

“. . .In the video, shared by Elon Musk and Vice President Vance this week, Shirley knocks on doors at various day care centers, pointing out that no children are visible, which he cites as evidence that they are improperly collecting funds. . .”

“. . .Nikki Brown, commissioner of the new Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, responded to the video this week, saying the centers in question had active licenses, with the exception of the center with the misspelled name, which she said closed last week. . .”

“ ‘There have been ongoing investigations with several of those centers. None of those investigations uncovered findings of fraud,’ she added. .. .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5668221-cnn-reporter-confronts-youtuber-minnesota-daycares/

Press Aren’t Coming to Take Him Away, Ha Ha

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Article in The Hill by Chris Truax, 12/19/25

Headline:  “All I want for Christmas is for the media to be honest about Trump”

“. . .Disinhibition can manifest itself in several ways, including ‘socially inappropriate behavior’ and a ‘loss of manners/decorum.’ People in the early stage of Alzheimer’s can begin to lose their social filter and their ability to control their impulses. They may make gratuitous, rude comments, exhibit racism or have sudden bouts of anger. These are all behaviors that Trump has recently displayed. . .”

“And yet, the media reports on Trump as if he were some sort of avant garde political performance artist challenging bourgeois values and outmoded conventions. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5655223-trump-dementia-behavior-concerns/

Media Now Ashamed?

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Article in Daily Kos by News Corpse, 12/18/25

Headline:  “ENOUGH! American Media Disgraced Itself Again By Airing Trump’s Lie-Riddled Harangue-a-Thon”

“Wednesday night Donald Trump delivered a primetime address from the White House that was billed as an important communication to the American people concerning matters that would be of great interest to them. And every major national network carried the speech live. Ordinarily those networks don’t give up that valuable airtime unless they have been assured that there is a valid justification for it.

“However, on this occasion, the networks don’t appear to have done even a perfunctory review of what the content of Trump’s speech would be. Consequently, they greenlit his speech. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/18/2359078/-ENOUGH-American-Media-Disgraced-Itself-Again-By-Airing-Trump-s-Lie-Riddled-Harangue-a-Thon?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Civility Not Fashionable Anymore?

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Article in AlterNet by Robert Reich, 12/2/25

Headline:  “Oxford’s ‘word of the year’ explains all you need to know about Trump — and the media”

“The publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary has named ‘rage bait’ its phrase of the year.

“Call it the monetization of rage. Rage has become a valuable commodity. (Always follow the money.)

“A growing number of online creators are making rage bait. Their goal is to record videos, produce memes, and write posts that make other users furious: conspiracy theories, lies, combustible AI-generated video clips — whatever it takes. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/oxford-word-of-the-year/