In a revealing moment, New York Times columnist Kevin Roose denounced four instances of “right-wing misinformation” making the rounds on Facebook. Here is his tweet; see if you can spot the common denominator in the four instances of “misinformation.”
Facebook is absolutely teeming with right-wing misinformation right now. These are all among the 10 most-engaged URLs on the platform over the last 24 hours (per @NewsWhip data) pic.twitter.com/WlTR10fRBE
— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) November 10, 2020
Yes, that’s right: every one of these Facebook posts links to a news story that is indisputably true. A Republican in Michigan did go from loser to winner after a “technical glitch” was fixed. Attorney General William Barr did authorize the Department of Justice to investigate voting irregularities. Michigan’s legislature did hold an emergency session. And Senators Perdue and Loeffler did call on Georgia’s Secretary of State to resign.
So what’s the problem? How can linking to news stories like these be “right-wing disinformation”? After many Twitter users objected, Roose responded:
For the conservatives who are mad about this: yes, it is possible for a story to be factually accurate *and* for it to be part of a misinformation campaign aimed at undermining confidence in an election. https://t.co/Ag4brfJzO4
— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) November 10, 2020
At the New York Times, indisputable truth is “misinformation,” and must be denounced as such, if it doesn’t advance that newspaper’s political agenda. Truthful information, in Timesspeak, is what helps the Democratic Party. “Misinformation” is what could harm the Democratic Party. As, very often, the facts tend to do.
I have been saying for a while that the principal job of journalists these days is to block Americans from receiving information that they are better off (in the opinion of the Left) not knowing. Journalists don’t so much report the news as cover it up. This is an excellent example of that sick phenomenon.
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