From "Did the Times Print an Urban Legend?" (National Review).
When I first saw the story...
A 30-year-old man who believed the coronavirus was a hoax and attended a “Covid party” died after being infected with the virus, according to the chief medical officer at a Texas hospital.... it wasn't in the NYT, it was being passed around on Facebook, and I chose not to blog it because I didn't think it had the indicia of credibility. But then it appeared in the NYT, so I read it again, and the reasons to be skeptical remained. (The indented quote above is the NYT version.) Who was the guy? Are we just accepting one doctor repeating what a nurse supposedly said, impugning a young person who just died? And why would this guy attend a "Covid party"? It sounds like a fictional tale designed to tell people to heed the warnings and be careful.
The official, Dr. Jane Appleby of Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, said the man died after deliberately attending a gathering with an infected person to test whether the coronavirus was real.
In her statements to news organizations, Dr. Appleby said the man had told his nurse that he attended a Covid party. Just before he died, she said the patient told his nurse: “I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it’s not.”
As the National Review piece points out, the NYT rewrote its story at least twice. It added:
The Times could not independently verify Dr. Appleby’s account. On Monday, the San Antonio health department said its contact tracers did not have any information “that would confirm (or deny)” that such an event had happened there.Did the Times try to verify the story only after it printed it? It's one of these too-good-not-to-share things and the Times didn't want to miss out?!
They need to check first and deem it not fit to print if it can't be verified. Otherwise the Times is just aping social media, and this kind of clickbait is what makes Facebook almost intolerable. I knew right away when I saw it on Facebook that it was fishy. How did it get through the NYT filter? The hypothesis has to be that it's not a journalism filter anymore but a sleazy combination of what works to tell the story we want to tell and what will get readers to click.
Ironically, readers are invited to think of themselves as superior to this Southern man who believed the virus was a hoax, but the material used to give them that feeling of superiority may itself be a hoax. You know, it's more ignorant to rush to believe things that may not be true than it is to be skeptical of things that may be true. The latter is critical thinking. The former is credulousness.
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116 comments:
This is the natural consequence of telling the lie that journalism is about "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable."
"Otherwise the Times is just aping social media..."
Almost all the journalists have been doing this lately. Reporting on items in social media and not doing any actual reporting of events.
The lockdowns have exacerbated it, and also given them an excuse to stay home and just find stuff on Twitter or Facebook to report.
I chose not to blog it because I didn't think it had the indicia of credibility.
@Slthouse, you chose ... wisely.
It comes from measles parties, a way to get immunity at an early age when the disease is relatively harmless.
Another reason why Bari Weiss quit the NYT.
Shouldn't be that hard to check out. How many 30 year olds have died of COVID in San Antonio? Can't be that many.
A newspaper is an institution developed by modern man to present the news of the day, to lead and inform public opinion, and to provide that check upon government that no constitution can ever provide.
--Chicago Tribune Credo
(deceased)
In my 700+ person LinkedIn network, which is honestly 99% professional and 80% people I already know, this crazy story was posted three times.
Possibly there is some maxim about all social networks turning into Facebook, cat memes, and credulous woke dreck ponds. But lordy, is it tiresome to experience.
-XC
Shorter post: If your mother loves a FB post about some guy going to a Covid Party, check it out.
"It comes from measles parties, a way to get immunity at an early age when the disease is relatively harmless."
Yeah, I know. Maybe I should have spelled that out in the post, but it's discussed in the NR piece. You have to move to the next step: If the unnamed man thought covid wasn't real, why would he go to a covid party? Now, it could be he thought it was real but not that dangerous for him because he was young and he wanted to get the disease. But WHY? In the case of chickenpox parties, the idea, as explained in the NR piece, was to make the youngest children get the disease and get through it more safely, rather than leaving them to get it when they are older and it would be more dangerousn.
NYT gave itself permission to abandon the shackles or ethical journalism shortly after the Trump victory. They told us it was it too important a moment.
They never called time in on back to being journalists.
"It could be he thought it was real but not that dangerous for him because he was young and he wanted to get the disease. But WHY?"
It doesn't make sense to say I want to get the disease when I'm 30 and not be vulnerable to getting it when I'm 31. That's not an age difference comparable to what parents were doing with chickenpox.
It had all the marks of a made-up story. No name, no time, no place. (Just like Dr. Blasey Ford).
Any HIPAA concerns? Let's see Dr. Appleby's permission to share the patient's history. It is so much easier when there is no patient, isn't it?
“ ...to think of themselves as superior...”.
This is the malady of our time. This is the bad fruit of the universal individual sin of pride, left unchecked.
Otherwise the Times is just aping social media, and this kind of clickbait is what makes Facebook almost intolerable.
I agree with Annie C. who commented earlier. The standard for “journalism” for several years now has been to get their info from social media. Sometimes they are blatant about it, quoting people’s Twitter and Facebook posts when the person makes the news for something. Sometimes they don’t admit that social media is their source. Those times are when they run with a story like this one. Our journalists are worse than worthless.
"Another reason why Bari Weiss quit the NYT."
We don't know exactly why she quit. I am waiting to see. Do you really walk away from a job before you have another job? I think there's more to it like: She got a better offer and is involved in some new project to be revealed later or She has a big project she's working on and the NYT has been rejecting it or demanding that she reshape it or change it in ways that she doesn't want, so she needs to take it elsewhere.
The worst thing is to have sold your work to a publisher and then to have them not publish it. I've had that happen to me over something relatively small (a book review) and it's really maddening. Getting paid isn't enough. You want your work to make it into print.
A lie gets halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its boots. More to the point, the lie will still be hanging around, months later, lounging on the sofa, while the truth is out in the cold, ringing the doorbell and asking, "Is anybody home?"
If there even was a doctor, and a younger patient who died, who knows? It seems as if the so-called journalist heard Trump said COVID19 is a hoax, and still believes it, even though he never did.
I do wish Blogger would allow links to https URLS! What is up with that?!
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/04/democratic-ad-twists-trumps-hoax-comment/
It reminds me of that scene from Cabaret “Wokeness Uber Alles”
Youth are so easily manipulated and it’s always too late for them when they get what they thought they believed in, good and hard.
“We won’t be fooled again!”
Ha ha ha ha ha! Foolish youth.
There’s a definite theme appearing in the last three written posts by Althouse with honesty (clip from Jerry McGuire), integrity (Weiss letter) and trust (#FakeNews) being threatened by wokey culture supplanting Liberal Ideals and journalism ethics. It is ironic that the more various media voices insist Trump is the aberration from the norm the more they destroy their own profession through dishonest attempts to manipulate their audiences instead of trusting readers/viewers to discern the “meaning” of facts presented plainly. Skewing isn’t reporting. Anonymous sources are dangerous. Assertions should be tested independently before being immortalized in print. Opinion should be avoiddd outside the editorial page. It ain’t that difficult to play it straight.
"How did it get through the NYT filter?"
I'd swear I smell coffee. Don't you smell it yet, Ann?
Where's my comment?
I blame the movie Citizen Kane, which I could never understand why people thought it was so great. It was about an incredibly wealthy man burning his money to fight wrong, I guess, when the better thing to do would be to properly inform the electorate and let them choose what is right and what is wrong. "But that was just a dream that some of us had," to quote Joni Mitchell.
The funny thing is that they think that they can completely change the incentives in the United States, and expect the wealth generating aspect to remain unchanged. It’s almost as if they learned nothing from the failures of communism, well in fact they did learn nothing from the failure of communism.
fake news = news lacking the indicia of credibility. I would wear a shirt that says,
This Lacks
the Indicia
of Credibility
Especially if it was in the logo of the Times masthead.
Great post. That final paragraph is 100% correct. Unfortunately, our culture is increasingly valuing the exact opposite!
Think about how many stories have gained mainstream acceptance in recent years with little or no evidence to support them:
Russia collusion, Kavanaugh allegations, Trump calling white supremacists "fine people", Michael Brown saying "Hands Up, Don't Shoot", etc. Many of these stories are still believed by millions of people even after being debunked or shown to have little evidence to support them.
Meanwhile, if you question dire climate predictions, you are a "science denier". And if you cite the statistics that police killing unarmed blacks is rare, you are labeled a racist.
It seems that skepticism is not rewarded in today's culture.
I first of this from my son who heard it ....? Anyway its out there now and is truth, just as all urban legends are.
We don't know exactly why she quit. I am waiting to see. Do you really walk away from a job before you have another job?
Her showing up at another job won't prove she left because of the new gig. Sometimes people quit because they're sick of being treated like shyte. It's an election year so it isn't not hard to see how the quality and quantity of the shyte produced the NYT could be too much to bear.
Here’s an urban legend that won’t make the news: On duty firefighters in FL decide to get Covid tests. They fill out the paperwork but the lines are too long and they don’t get tested. A few days later they get letters stating that they tested positive even though they never took the test. My wife told me that one yesterday.
A journalist was once asked why they chose their career.*
"I want to change the world, but I couldn't pass the bar exam."
*SF Chronicle man in the street "Question Man" 1980s.
Otherwise the Times is just aping social media, and this kind of clickbait is what makes Facebook almost intolerable.
Paraphrasing, but didn't Bari Weiss write that Twitter had become the NYT editor in her resignation letter?
Was he a Southern man as Althouse says? The doctor’s story only identifies him as a patient at a Texas hospital. Althouse may be perpetuating another hoax.
But, the reporting and editing have lacked all the traditional ethics of the trade of journalism.
What are there "traditional ethics" of which you speak ?
Newspapers began as highly opinionated pamphlets and they - and other media - have simply returned to the dust from which they sprang.
There was a time, long ago, when some newspapers did try to erect some "ethics" but to some extent this was just defensive. Lots of newspaper owners were ferociously conservative - the editors not so much. Hence a bit of "ethics" would keep the owner at bay. (btw if y'all haven't read Scoop by Evelyn Waugh, you should.)
The media institution that has tried hardest to present itself as unbiased and positively oozing with ethics and standards is the BBC. But not only is it actually heavily left biased "news" source, it always has been.
Churchill was complaining about how biased it had been even back in the 1930s. Riddled with communists and socialists, he said. Say what you like about Churchill, and knock his statues over if you must, but you've got to admit - when he was right he was right.
These heart string confirmation bias stories appeal to idiots ideologues and women. If you understand structure, you wouldn't care either way. It's going to collapse one day like CHAZ. I'm not saying we won't get our hair missed...
Even if true.....is he the only person who got sick at the COVID party? Out of how many people?
We don't know exactly why she quit. I am waiting to see. Do you really walk away from a job before you have another job? I think there's more to it like: She got a better offer and is involved in some new project to be revealed later
Do you think that or are you hoping that? Are you hoping the NYT hasn't become such a terrible place for a center left (like you!) person to work that they simply will not stay?
Now that critical thinking has sputtered back to life everyone go back and rediscover all the myths and urban legends the NYT printed since the Trump election that you totally fell for.
More fun than the Tuesday crossword puzzle...
The Times is on a mission: Get Trump out of the White House. By any means necessary. Once you understand that, the news choices and presentations make perfect sense.
"The hypothesis has to be that it's not a journalism filter anymore but a sleazy combination of what works to tell the story we want to tell and what will get readers to click."
Gambling? In this establishment? Shocked, I am!
It's time to replace the "lawyers" in all the lawyer jokes with "journalists". E.g., "What do you call 100 journalists up to their necks in sand? Not enough sand." Etc.
The journalism professors that taught this generation are either 1) celebrating that everything is going according to plan, or 2) washing their hands like Pontius Pilate
Tear out the front page! No, I don''t have a story right at this moment. I just think you should tear out the front page while I think of something sensational.....The criteria for printing news used to be factual facts but that was lowered to credible facts and has now been lowered again to plausible facts. The ideal they're striving for is possible facts. Next headline story: Painting BLM signs on city streets has caused crime to plummet in NYC.
It's so easy. Decide (which means "be told by the people you admire and whom you want to like you) what to believe, then look for "stories" (some of them perhaps literally stories) that confirm and hammer home what you believe. All you need is the ability to string words together in a more or less cohesive line, and a degree from a J-school with a big enough name to get you an internship at a good paper or station or site, leading to a job offer post-graduation.
Why would anyone want actually to work for a living?
"Do you really walk away from a job before you have another job?"
I have. Sometimes it's the best option.
"I didn't think it had the indicia of credibility. But then it appeared in the NYT, so I read it again"
Funny stuff. Appearing in the NYT is now sufficient indicium of incredibility.
Anyway, what could it even mean to think the WuFlu was a "hoax"? It would make sense only as confirmation of bias to pro-panic progs in their little bubble.
"A number of young journalists have been arguing lately that the traditional mission of journalism needs to be cashiered in favor of 'moral clarity,' that journalism should be more like activism."
"What we have in this story is an example of where that leads us. The 'moral clarity' was all there. It told a literal 'cautionary moral tale.' But, the reporting and editing have lacked all the traditional ethics of the trade of journalism. The result looks to me like fake news and a disgraceful attempt at memory-holing the evidence."
"A number of young..." LOL
This is just coming out because like most left leaning "groups", they eventually start eating their own. The "media" has had a left slant since at least the 50s and it has just accelerated ever since as more and more of the old balanced pool of talent has been purged of those suffering from "wrong think". The "school of journalism" has been self selecting away from "telling the facts" to "telling the narrative" for decades. More and more of the folks that get these degrees and go into this field do so not to expose the truth but to "change the world and make a difference".
Today whether the know it or not, are actively working to help kill their industry. Half the country sees through them and the other half are still fooling themselves that the media is still anything more than far left scolds.
Today's reporters know nothing, have no life experiences, have been no where, and know less about the subjects they report on than high-school graduates from 50 years ago.
At this point, all any sane person can say is "pass the popcorn!"
But they have found no evidence to confirm (or deny) that such a COVID party happened. I guess under the New Journalism, the burden of proof is on Ann, National Review and any other skeptics: can you prove it didn't happen?
> This is the natural consequence of telling the lie that journalism is about
> "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable."
The motto of modern journalism is "comforting the liberals and afflicting the conservatives."
I'm discouraged an entire generation of our society (not talking ages, talking the current generation society is in) is dismissing things like:
- Free speech, including hate speech
- Unbiased journalism
- Open intellectual debate on thorny issues
In exchange for:
- "Safe speech" with what is safe constantly defined by a mob
- Journalism who has determined a side to be on before investigating and reporting on an issue
- Closed debate on thorny issues, with personal attacks on the side you disagree with and not engaging the topic
....
Just to speak on journalism for a minute: Journalism is supposed to be the equivalent of military scouts for the truth. They go out and cover a certain section and report back what they see in an unbiased area. By doing so, they allow smart decision-making and judgement over the current landscape.
When you TELL a scout what to look for, or they themselves decide what they want to report back before they go out and look at the landscape, they miss things. Or they see what they WANT or expect to see. This bias going into a situation is dangerous. It's dangerous in military situations.
It's far more dangerous in journalism.
And the fact that most journalists today don't see it as dangerous, with rare exceptions such as Greenwald, Taibbi, and others, shows how intellectually vacuous the field of journalism has become.
How did it get through the NYT filter? The hypothesis has to be that it's not a journalism filter anymore but a sleazy combination of what works to tell the story we want to tell and what will get readers to click.
Exactly.
I put a much faith in anything written in the NYT as I do in the high school kid who knocks on my door and wants to explain to me how my soda straw is going to kill a whale.
BTW I put public polling in the same category. Their mission is to shape public opinion, not measure it. I believe we will find this out in November.
CNN had an article up yesterday claiming a “study” shows to COVID spread in traced to BLM protests. But, we are supposed to believe it can be traced to bars and restaurants. The NYTs has no clue about the kid at the COVID party. This isn’t a mistake. They know it’s not true and published it anyway. Just wait until the school panic starts. Liberal media in conjunction with Teachers Unions will be pushing a much false fear as possible. Glad to see everyone is catching up on liberal media being nothing but propaganda. Some of us have known for decades.
"We don't know exactly why she quit. I am waiting to see."
She told you and everyone else. You just don't want it to be so?
I read that story when it came out and it sounded like BS to me.
Far left liberals are mentally ill. I have not said that recently.
I don’t know how anybody can do good journalism any more. Finding what might become a story; developing the facts; testing the facts; second-sourcing the story; protecting the story from being misrepresented, stolen, scooped, altered, buried: all this while Twitter is eating your brain and you are trying to make rent money; how is it even possible?
We should feel more sympathy for the NYT and similar obsolete institutions, overrun with virtue-signaling children and led by cowards and idiots. They are doing their very best. But it’s just not good enough.
BS story. Couldn't get the death breakout by age for Bexar County but on average during June there were fewer than 1 deaths per day in all age groups. Assuming the same age breakout as in my county of 360K there have been exactly TWO, count em, TWO deaths in the 25 - 49 age group since March. Reporters are lazy and math is hard, which is why no one from the Times has bothered to even look at the numbers.
Journalism IS political advocacy. How about we scrap journalism and return to the concept of reporting? Who, what, when, where, why and let the reader figure out their own narrative based on complete, factual details presented without bias. There has to be a market for that kind of information collection and distribution. There was for about 200 years before journalism took over the news industry.
Dear Ms. Althouse,
It's always nice to see that someone is finally opening their eyes to the reality of perhaps the most famous propaganda outlet of all time. The New York Times has been lying to you for well over a hundred years.
Don't feel bad. I didn't realize until about 60 years ago.
Just another story that supports a "narrative" and therefore is too perfect to be checked out.
In this case a credulous young man -- from Texas, a red state -- paid for his stupidity with his life.
A couple years ago, remember a sainted Native American elder was hassled by bigoted white high school kids (from Kentucky!) who of course were wearing MAGA hats. Except it didn't happen.
More reccently, the three persons shot by CHOP "security" in Seattle just happened to be Black teenagers. The first, 19, was injured on site, but the Summer of Love gang prevented EMTs from getting in to help him. In the other case, 16- and 14-year old boys were joyriding in a Jeep and were strafed with multiple bullets when, it has been said (but not checked out) they tried to drive into the "autonomous" zone. The older one died, and the younger was seriously injured. The SMPD chief, an African American woman, said evidence from the scene was removed before investigators arrived. This seemed to be downplayed deliberately -- how many protest marches for those kids' murders? -- because the facts did not fit the narrative and might seem to validate Trumpian bluster.
Per Bari Weiss' departure letter yesterday. The NY Times is now edited by Twitter (and social media). Their current standard for stories is not so much to cover a story objectively, sort out the facts and determine if it is indeed news. Their standard is clicks. And who sits around on social media all day? Left wing folk constantly looking for group approval.
The NY Times is seriously a laughingstock. But at least they have nice offices.
Was he a Southern man as Althouse says?
I dunno but I recall a photo of a red-faced fat guy with full beard and ball cap.
Probably wearing cargo shorts, too.
I can’t believe that Ann still thinks the NYT gives something some “indicia of credibility”. The liberal worms have burrowed deep into the brain.
The media is no longer in the business of telling you what you should know - if they ever were, they're into the business of telling you what you should *think*.
This 'moral clarity' idea is more evidence of that. They will make things up if it means they can 'nudge' just a little bit more.
I wonder how many of the Journalists at the NYTimes swallowed the Rolling Stone UVa Rape article Hook, Line and Sinker when it first came out.
Too many people see an news item -- true or false -- and if it conforms to their worldview they believe it. How could their worldview be wrong, after all? It's too bad that so many of such people work for the (cough) Newspaper of Record (cough).
Was he a Southern man as Althouse says?
Well, I hope The New York Times will remember
A southern man don't need it around, anyhow...
“Moral clarity” at NYT would be the hoax of this century. It has long since ceased to be a newspaper and has become a tabloid of the National Enquirer genre.
Why would the likelihood of more fake news forwarded by this fish wrapper even be blogworthy? Nostalgia? Forget it. The paper is beyond redemption.
i heard from a friend, that zhe'd read, IN A PAPER; that
Trump supporting anti-Covid fanatics are Kidnapping, Killing, and Draining the blood
from young BLM supporters...
And, then USING THAT BLOOD TO BAKE CAKES That Supposedly protect them from Covid!!!!
fake news places like Fox News might pretend that this isn't happening; but, can they Prove it?
I blame all that talk young people are subjected to all the time now, about having to make a difference, standing up for...something, go out there and make the world a "better" place. Get angry, don't take no for an answer, make people do...something. Or not do...something. Be the change you're waiting for. Whatever the h*ll that means.
It's not enough to be a difference in some small, barely noticed way to just a few people around you. No, you have to go big, bring that fire of purification to a dirty, corrupt world. It's very messianic, all that zeal. In another time, they'd be signing up as missionaries.
"A number of young journalists have been arguing lately that the traditional mission of journalism needs to be cashiered in favor of 'moral clarity,' that journalism should be more like activism."
What they don't seem to understand is that doesn't bring anything of value to their readers. If you're not telling me what happened, straight up, I've got no use for you. I'm not going to read your moral preening. I have neither the time nor the interest.
indicia of credibility
LOL. "It sounded fake."
Kinda like how saying 'genitalia' instead of 'genitals' makes the speaker sound a bit pompous. Just a bit.
When they show you what they are, believe them.
Journalism can certainly advocate for preferred political outcomes and remain legitimate as journalism, but only insofar as journalists and news organs adhere to presenting only verified facts in reporting events of the day, and in acknowledging when reported information remains unconfirmed.
Saw this on Facebook and I must wonder if it is true:
Stacia Kelly "In March, our entire family became sick with COVID-like symptoms..."
In the post she says that her 8-year-old son was the last in the family to come down with symptoms but that his COVID-19 test came back negative; symptoms mild at first, but persisted and got worse and he continues to have severe symptoms, though he's at home and not in the hospital.
The antepenultimate paragraph (before her added comments) is:
"The truth is, we don't know what this disease does yet. We have only just begun to understand what COVID-19 does in the early phases. We are clueless as to what this virus does to our bodies, and our children's bodies, in the long run."
The statements in the post, if true, are tragic, though I have to wonder why his pediatrician hasn't taken more aggressive action to facilitate the healing process. If exaggerated our if not true, then this is fearmongering at its worst.
There is a famous video of a weather babe sitting in a canoe and reporting about the extreme depth of the flood waters from a hurricane. Then a couple of guys walk into the video wearing hip boots that show the water is only a few inches deep.
A month ago a reporter stood in front of a burning Minneapolis Police Precinct building and talked about the "largely peaceful protests".
Eventually people catch on.
My question is why has the media adopted a business model that attacks 50% of its potential customer base?
Does fake news have moral clarity?
Did Christine Blasey Ford show moral clarity in making up a story about Brett Kavanaugh?
Did Adam Schiff show moral clarity in constantly lying about Russian Collusion, among other things?
I suspect that Lefties think that they are the only ones with moral clarity because the purity of their cause means that truth is irrelevant. Lying to service the cause is high and proper.
did a search on Jane Appleby at Methodist Hospital physicians.
"sorry no results were found for jane appleby."
Newspapers must be a strange business. When you hire young accountants or engineers you supervise them and watch what they are doing. You don't turn them loose on the public and let their inexperience create disaster. If an old respected engineer does a design project, the young engineers don't mass together and sign petitions that they will quit if you don't fire him because they disagree with his design "philosophy". Newspapers act like idiots, seems that they let the young inexperienced "journalists" run the show, otherwise you assume that management is telling them to do the stupid things.
Ask FactCheck
Q: Are hospitals inflating the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths so they can be paid more?
A: Recent legislation pays hospitals higher Medicare rates for COVID-19 patients and treatment, but there is no evidence of fraudulent reporting.
FOX 35 INVESTIGATES: Florida Department of Health says some labs have not reported negative COVID-19 results
"I do wish Blogger would allow links to https URLS! What is up with that?!
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/04/democratic-ad-twists-trumps-hoax-comment/"
You just have to type in the code: See?
There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. For the next hour we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits.
- The Outer Limits
Compare and contrast with the Twilight Fringe
how many of the Journalists at the NYTimes swallowed the Rolling Stone UVa Rape article Hook, Line and Sinker
They were spinning yarns for a greater cause: establishment of systemic... a rape culture, which would color male privilege and social justify selective and cannibalized-child.
"it's more ignorant to rush to believe things that may not be true than it is to be skeptical of things that may be true. The latter is critical thinking. The former is credulousness."
When I try to explain Althouse, I always mention the even handed skepticism that is applied to all topics.
That first sentence should be imprinted on an official Althouse coffee mug (with a picture of Ann). Something to drink out of first thing in the AM when the daily posts start up. I would certainly buy one or two as a way of contributing towards this blog.
still thinks the NYT gives something some “indicia of credibility”. The liberal worms
Close association h/t NYT
Maybe not, but you have to separate the wheat from the chaff, the ants from the maggots and other unhealthy creepers, the helper bacteria from the pathogens, the baby from the "burden" h/t Obama, etc.
New York Times reporting should be written with a vocal fry.
the three persons shot by CHOP "security" in Seattle just happened to be Black teenagers
Some, select, Black Lives Matter. Once, #BLM is selective, opportunistic, Black Lives Matters, Albino Lives Matter, etc. is political propaganda for profit, leverage, and social progress.
It's the NYT. NYT is asshole. I despise, detest, and distrust the NYT Land it's little dog WaPoo, too!)
"She told you and everyone else. You just don't want it to be so?"
She just doesn't believe people who (used to) work for the NYT.
Watching the demise of the NYtimes reminds me when USA Today originally came out and it was ridiculed as a mediocre, homogenized product that would not offer "local voices or insights" and that it was backed by a secret cabal of 'Moral Majority investors' (remember that nefarious group?)
I think it was some whiney Russell Baker opinion piece that said it would never work as people had developed a close and personal bond with their local paper that could never be broken. Wow, he might as well have been on another planet when he wrote that back in the 1980's.
Liberals brand themselves as been "voracious readers with the Sunday edition of the Ny Times on their kitchen table" What will the NYTimes do when that generation shuffles off the mortal coil?
"Journalism can certainly advocate for preferred political outcomes and remain legitimate as journalism, but only insofar as journalists and news organs adhere to presenting only verified facts…"
No, Robert, they've demonstrated they can't. Maybe in some theoretical world, but in this world, with these "journalists", they can't. They've demonstrated that time and time again.
Perhaps the more interesting point is not that the Times published tripe -- we all know the Times publishes tripe -- but that they published this tripe. One might suppose -- a dispassionate and rather naive observer might suppose -- that the journalists at the Times are concerned that the citizenry at large, and particularly the young, are not taking the threat of Covid-19 seriously, and are therefore at risk. They are simply trying to save lives.
I don't believe that. I don't believe the lying fuckers care about anyone's lives but their own. Democrat governors are using Covid to wreck the economies of their states for political reasons, and the Times is there to help them. No memo came down from Dean Racquet. None had to. They are all on the same team.
The Times wrote hundreds if not thousands of stories on the urban legend that Russian collusion denied Hillary Clinton the presidency, but sure, by all means let’s get to the bottom of this covid party story.
" . . . that journalism should be more like activism." To use a cliche, that boat sailed a long time ago. As Instapundit says, "think of most 'journalists' as DNC operatives with press passes and you won't go far wrong."
Applebaum would have been a more believable name. I’m sure there’s a Dr. Appleby somewhere, but Dr. Applebaum would have garnered more hits on a net search, if you’re into the whole indicia of credibility thing.
Here's the biggest problem: Journalists write stories, like in a journal.
Reporters report what happened. Not enough reporting anymore.
NYT now officially stands for New York Twitter.
Don't forget the commensal relationship between "journalism" and litigation. I see the hysteria over Wu Flu feeding a public mindset that (1) it is very bad in all sorts of mysterious ways (2) it is spread magically, that is, with witch-like powers (3) somebody must pay when our dear ones are afflicted therefore (4) bring a class action against another deep pocket, either an employer for "forcing" people back to work or just some random sap who can be accused of standing too close to you. The journalists are the perfect and time-honored channel for building this expectation and creating a market in plaintiffs (and jurors).
New York Times reporting should be written with a vocal fry.
This.
If you want to know what that sounds like, dial up some youtube video of the astounding NYC-Valley Girl vocal-fry stylings of former NYT executive editor Jill Abramson. Fair warning: You’ll want to shoot yourself.
How did it get through the NYT filter?
Remember the 2004 CBS story, the Bush national guard memos from the 1970s? Written on Microsoft Word on the default settings? Because that was the way things were done then, you see.... (There are still "true believers" on the left that INSIST those memos were genuine. SOME typewriters did proportional fonts, someone rewrote all the files for some reason 20 years later, and other lameness.)
At the time, the media bought it completely--then looked like total fools when the bloggers took them down. They insisted they had "filters" the bloggers didn't have, so don't believe those bloggers! Until they showed the overlay of the "memo" versus a modern typed version on defaults; it was undeniable.
The media did not learn the lesson there about being truthful The only lesson they learned there was: don't show the rubes your source. They just say now "we're confident in our sources." The source could be the voices in their heads, or (just to pick at random) a political hit dossier paid for by the political enemies of the subject. They aren't going to tell you. Just believe it and shut up. Orange Man Bad.
"I blame the movie Citizen Kane, which I could never understand why people thought it was so great. It was about an incredibly wealthy man burning his money to fight wrong...."
You've entirely missed the point--and the artistry--of CITIZEN KANE, as well as the corruption over time (by his wealth and power) of Kane's character.
12- Twelve, a whopping Twelve total covid deaths in the 30-39 age range in all of Texas from the official Texas numbers. 5 for 20-29, zero, as in none, for 19 and under. ZERO.
With a total of 12 deaths in the 30-39 age range- shouldn't be hard to find this mythical person were he real. assuming an even distribution of deaths across the range- 1-3 30 year olds have died of covid in Texas.
The data: https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/ed483ecd702b4298ab01e8b9cafc8b83
Oh, by the way, these are confirmed covid fatalities, so the numbers are fewer than the 3,322 number on their main page. 719 confirmed covid deaths vs 3322 reported covid deaths.
I blame the movie Citizen Kane, which I could never understand why people thought it was so great. It was about an incredibly wealthy man burning his money to fight wrong, I guess, when the better thing to do would be to properly inform the electorate and let them choose what is right and what is wrong. "But that was just a dream that some of us had," to quote Joni Mitchell.
What!? That's not what it was about! Young Kane was an idealist, but that didn't last long. Remember he is in-story blamed for the SpanAm war (though Bernstein kind of poo-poos that idea). The last semi-idealistic thing he does is finish Cotten's review. After that, the narrative was all..
"'Journalism can certainly advocate for preferred political outcomes and remain legitimate as journalism, but only insofar as journalists and news organs adhere to presenting only verified facts…'
"No, Robert, they've demonstrated they can't. Maybe in some theoretical world, but in this world, with these "journalists", they can't. They've demonstrated that time and time again."
Yes, they can, and have. The purpose of guaranteeing a free press is to, as the man said, allow the press to "check the power of government," (not to mention other powerful private entities in society that lie, cheat, steal, and otherwise harm the huddled masses), without fear of official censure. This requires investigations and uncovering of crimes and high places, and calling them that. It is not achieved by milquetoast reporting of the "he said/she said" stripe.
The problem is the pretense today by the major media--corporate-owned profit-seeking endeavors above all--that they are in the business of providing "objective" journalism, when they don't and never have. "Objective" journalism is a recent development--invented by the publishers of newspapers in the 1920s to appeal to broader audiences, rather than to niche audiences who supported this or that particular political perspective. In other words, it was not about anything but increasing audience share, it was never a pre-existing ideal of journalism.
Journalism should always be factual, but that is not the same at all as being "objective." In fact, the more factual advocacy journalism is, the more good it may do, in getting the goods on criminal public actors, naming names and holding criminals in high places (in the public and private sphere) to blame for their misdeeds, by arousing public demand for legal sanctions and policy reforms.
Robert, you wrote a lot of unnecessary fluff when you should have just stuck with this: "Journalism should always be factual". I agree 100%, and I'm saying today's "journalists" reject that. Hell, they're proud of it.
So, Ann, this directed right at you- and Meade. What are YOU doing to protect yourself against covid? I'll tell you about me and what I'm doing.
I'm 65, in reasonably good health. A few more pounds than I'd like, but not even close to obese. Walk >20 minutes a day 5 days a week, at a brisk pace.
What don't I do? I don't wear a mask everywhere, despite Dictator Cuomo's edicts. I'm 65- it interferes with my breathing. Period- end of discussion on that. Almost every large scale study on large swaths of the population in multiple countries says the same thing- it's an absolutely useless gesture. If you have symptoms of any URI- wear one if you go out. Preferably- STAY HOME! If you're immunocompromised, it might, as in might, not will, do you some good. If it doesn't interfere too much with your breathing. Most immunocompromised people have poor lung function- COPD or similar problems.
So- Vitamin D. I live in CNY. So, if I weren't taking Vitamin D supplements, I'd be D deficient. You're in Wisconsin- same problem. DO you take Vitamin D supplements? Do you know your Vitamin D blood level? Low Vitamin D is directly associated with worse outcomes in virtually all serious URIs- including TB. (Among things I learned during the covidiocy.) Turns out there's also controversy over what a proper D blood level should be. 15 ng/ml is the lowest level needed to prevent rickets and ensure proper bone growth. But D is also used in the immune system. And higher levels are needed for proper functioning of the immune system. Most (not all) studies recommend maintaining a level between 40-60 ng/ml. The US government, of course, a few years ago changed it's recommendations from a max of 100 mg/ml to 50 ng/ml. The Vitamin D blood level test is cheap- $69 at Quest, though I think you can find it cheaper. That's, of course, if you live in a state where you're allowed to monitor your own health. I live in the Dictatorship of New York where all lab work must be ordered by a licensed health professional- and the results delivered to- the health professional, not the actual, you know, patient. It's forbidden to monitor your own health- for your own good of course.
If your body has a good level of Vitamin D- your body will use it. And in using it- it uses up Vitamin K. (Among things I learned during the covidiocy.) Not necessary to fight the dreaded covid- but you should take additional Vitamin K if you're taking Vitamin D. You're probably NOT getting a sufficient amount of K from a normal American diet.
N-acetylcysteine (NAC). I was taking it for other reasons- examine dot com has a human effect matrix for it. Webmd also lists possible benefits. But it's foul tasting and smelling. I stopped. I started again because apparently- it helps in the fight against the dreaded covid. (Among things I learned during the covidiocy.) 600 mg capsule, once a day.
Melatonin- the newest common supplement to have an effect against the dreaded covid. I haven't studied much on it. But I take some each night before hitting the rack. So- not for covid- for sleep quality. But- it's an anti-covid thing now.
For those who did the search for Jane Appleby and didn't find her- you did it wrong. She's real. Her patient- isn't until proved otherwise. One of the first tnhings I looked for.
https://sahealth.com/healthcare-professionals/for-doctors/
A rather unfortunate physical resemblance to the Karen prototype.
The death rate for CV-19 in those healthy and under 30 is about the same as the flu. I have no idea why people can't accept this and instead get all hysterical. So what if they had a CV-19 party (which i don't believe)? The fact is that young people should be out living, and we're locking them down because of the old people.
School districts are going to distance learning. that's NOT being done to protect young folks, its because School Teachers don't have the guts that Baristas and Grocery clerks do.
I believe nothing in the NYT/WaPo that fits their agenda. I double check it, or ignore it.
I have it on good authority the COVID party took place in Bubba Wallace's garage.
They were making nooses to pass the time.
Church of the Progressive JournoList... Let us bray.
A single excess death at a Planned Party (PP)?
On https links: I know the code. I’ve coded multiple websites from scratch, back in the day, so I have no fear of HTML. I tried to embed the link last night and Blogger kicked it back as not allowed. Not the first time I’ve seen that happen. I’m totally willing to believe I keep making typos only when entering links to https sites. It’s what I get for commenting from my phone!
If you think journalism should be more like activism then maybe you should leave journalism and just be a full-time activist.
This Corona story reminds me of the AIDS rumors back in the 1980s. I had a female friend and my sister both tell me the story of how a guy slept with a woman, found the woman was gone in the morning, and went into the bathroom and discovered "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS" written on the mirror with lipstick.
My female friend told me that this event happened in Omaha, and my sister told me this occurred in Lincoln. I think this apocryphal story was probably told around the entire country.
This Corona story reminds me of the AIDS rumors back in the 1980s. I had a female friend and my sister both tell me the story of how a guy slept with a woman, found the woman was gone in the morning, and went into the bathroom and discovered "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS" written on the mirror with lipstick.
My female friend told me that this event happened in Omaha, and my sister told me this occurred in Lincoln. I think this apocryphal story was probably told around the entire country.
This Corona story reminds me of the AIDS rumors back in the 1980s. I had a female friend and my sister both tell me the story of how a guy slept with a woman, found the woman was gone in the morning, and went into the bathroom and discovered "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS" written on the mirror with lipstick.
My female friend told me that this event happened in Omaha, and my sister told me this occurred in Lincoln. I think this apocryphal story was probably told around the entire country.
Gospace said...
For those who did the search for Jane Appleby and didn't find her- you did it wrong.
Beat me to it:
https://business.utsa.edu/faculty/jane-appleby-md-facp/
Jane Appleby, MD, FACP
Executive in Residence - Center for Professional Excellence
Dr. Jane Appleby, is chief medical officer for Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital, a campus of Methodist Hospital. In this role, Appleby oversees the medical affairs of Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital, as well as championing the patient care delivery system. With over twenty years in practice as an internal medicine doctor, Appleby is board certified in internal medicine and in hospice and palliative medicine. She holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Texas at Austin and earned a doctor of medicine from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), where she also completed her internship and residency in internal medicine. Appleby held the role of chief quality officer for Methodist Healthcare for five years, leading efforts that resulted in unprecedented improvements in quality metrics.
Well, Appleby does sound more Methodist. The Baptists are always complaining that the Methodists get to Appleby's first every Sunday after service. Their preachers preach too long.
"If it rings true, it is true."
Panic Porn peddlers' give that an infectious hug.
"A number of young journalists have been arguing lately that the traditional mission of journalism needs to be cashiered in favor of 'moral clarity,' that journalism should be more like activism."
Um ... isn’t that where are now? Am I missing something?
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