Uncategorized
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Goldberg’s strained defense of “death panel”
NRO’s Jonah Goldberg objects to the New York Times story on the “death panel” myth that I praised earlier today (and mocks me as “think[ing] the Times story is just frick’n awesome, just as it is”): My own question is why the Times couldn’t bother to at least quote Obama’s interview with . . .
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CJR on correcting misinformation
CJR’s Greg Marx has just published an in-depth examination of the difficulty of correcting misinformation that features my research with Jason Reifler (PDF) and my thoughts on the current health care debate. Here’s how it begins: Pushing back against political misinformation has lately become a growth industry. The Obama administration is trying to counter false
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NYT names and shames McCaughey et al.
Today the New York Times joins ABC News and the New York Daily News in shaming Betsy McCaughey (along with the Washington Times and the American Spectator) for her role in spreading misinformation about health care reform proposals in Congress: False ‘Death Panel’ Rumor Has Some Familiar Roots By JIM RUTENBERG and JACKIE CALMES The
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PolitiFact: Myths and facts on health care
The Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site Politifact has published an exceptionally clear overview of the health care reform debate that summarizes the key provisions of the legislation now pending in Congress as well as some of the key points of contention between the parties. They’ve also published a compilation of the ten most significant fact-checking items
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Cornyn hedges on “death panel” myth
It’s sad to see Senator John Cornyn protecting his right flank by hedging his rhetoric on the “death panel” myth, which he said is “probably an exaggeration”: Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) said the death panel allegation is “probably an exaggeration of what is actually in the plans.” But he said it stems from fears
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Daily News names and shames McCaughey
David Saltonstall deserves major credit for this story, which directly identifies Betsy McCaughey as the primary source of the euthanasia myth and traces its spread through the health care reform debate: Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey leads ‘death panel’ charge writing up talking points Sarah Palin may have fanned the fire over President Obama’s fictitious
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A health care reporting scorecard
As misinformation becomes a central issue in the health care debate, we’re seeing some excellent examples of how news organizations should handle reporting on deceptive claims, but they’re largely exceptions to the rule. On the positive side, Kate Snow of ABC News deserves credit for a television report in which she correctly describes the “death
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More GOP birthers in heavily black states?
[Update (6/30/10): Serious questions have been raised about the validity of Research 2000’s polls. The results discussed below should thus be viewed as potentially suspect until the matter is resolved.] Two new polls are out measuring the state-level prevalence of the misperception that President Obama is not a citizen of this country. Tom Jensen of
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White House health care “Reality Check” site
The White House has launched a Health Insurance Reform Reality Check website to try to counter myths about the legislation pending in Congress such as the false claim that it will promote euthanasia. Given my research on the difficulty of correcting misperceptions (PDFs), I’m not optimistic about the site’s effectiveness. It’s also not clear that
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Weak NYT fact-check on euthanasia
With Sarah Palin inventing a mythical Obama “death panel” on Friday, the euthanasia myth is only going to spread, especially with weak-kneed coverage like this in today’s New York Times (my emphasis): Conservative critics say the legislation could limit end-of-life care and even encourage euthanasia. Moreover, some assert, it would require people to draw up