Spreading Rumors of Spreading Rumors of Electoral Fraud
Washington Post illustrates its speculation about Russian plots with an image of Moscow gratuitously photographed through a construction fence. (photo: Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)
After hundreds of words of evidence-free speculation about how Russian hackers might undermine the US elections—including the suggestion that “they might try to rig the election for Clinton, perhaps leaving a trail of evidence designed to connect the rigging operation to Clinton’s campaign”—Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum (9/8/16) admitted that it’s unlikely that any such hacking will actually occur. But the lack of hacking could also be part of a Russian plot—because “rumors of election fraud can create the same hysteria as real election fraud.” Since this followed an entire column devoted to spreading rumors of electoral fraud, was Applebaum actually admitting to being a Moscow mole?
‘What Is Aleppo?’ Turns Out to Be a Tough Question
Media mocked Gary Johnson for his Aleppo ignorance, but some attempts to inform him weren’t much better.
Asked in an MSNBC interview (Morning Joe, 9/8/16), “What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?” Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson responded, “What is Aleppo?”
Perhaps a presidential candidate should recognize one of the deadliest battlegrounds in the Syrian civil war. But as critics (Moon of Alabama, 9/8/16; Salon, 9/8/16) pointed out, the New York Times had more than a little trouble identifying it as well. The Times’ Alan Rappeport (9/8/16), writing about Johnson’s gaffe, described Aleppo as “the de facto capital of the Islamic State,” or ISIS. That’s wrong; ISIS’s de facto capital is Raqqa, a city halfway across Syria from Aleppo.
An edit changed this to describe Aleppo as “a stronghold of the Islamic State.” That’s also wrong; the main rebel faction in Aleppo is Syria’s Al Qaeda affiliate—a bitter rival of ISIS, which has little presence in the city.
The New York Times ran a correction on its misidentification of Aleppo. But it had to run a correction on the correction—because the first correction misidentified Aleppo as the capital of Syria. The actual capital of Syria is Damascus.
To NYT, British Public Is Mostly ‘Fringe’
A New York Times photo caption says Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn “is popular with left-wing party members but has alienated many others.” (photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
A recent New York Times report (9/4/16) by Steven Erlanger focused on the British Labour Party’s “left-wing leader, Jeremy Corbyn,” whom the Times seemed to blame for Labour’s internal squabbling and mediocre polling—noting that “Mr. Corbyn had always been on Labour’s fringe.” But some of the positions Erlanger highlighted to depict Corbyn as “a man of the hard left” are decidedly non-fringy in British politics.
For example, he “wants to renationalize the utilities and make Britain non-nuclear.” A 2013 YouGov poll (11/4/13) found 68 percent of UK voters in favor of nationalizing energy companies, while 66 percent supported railroad nationalization. In an ORB poll (Independent, 1/24/16), 49 percent of British respondents advocating scrapping the UK’s submarine nuclear force.
Corbyn is also tarred for having “pushed hard for more spending for the poor” and for being a “supporter of Palestinian statehood.” Given a choice between “Labour should offer more for people in poverty” and “Labour should offer more for people on middle incomes” in a poll sponsored by the Trades Union Congress (5/20/15), 44 percent of UK citizens picked the former, vs. 29 choosing the latter. When recognition of the Palestinian state was considered by the UN in 2011, a BBC poll (9/19/11) found 53 percent of Britons in favor and only 26 percent opposed.
Buying Bylines—by the Thousands Each Year
The Wall Street Journal put Bill Ingram’s name on this op-ed–but a PR firm says it actually wrote it.
Who really writes newspaper op-eds? Some 3,000 times a year, it’s a PR firm called Keybridge Communications, claims Laura Bentz, the firm’s director of business development. Claiming “some of the country’s most influential trade groups and global corporations” among its clients, Keybridge says that for a mere $5,000, it can “brand a CEO” by putting op-eds into newspapers in “virtually every major city”; “if we’re pitching to a national audience, we guarantee that we’ll reach at least 50,000 readers.”
Among the pieces the company’s marketing materials take credit for: a Wall Street Journal op-ed (5/10/16) attributed to Bill Ingram, vice president of Adobe Analytics, arguing that “computers free up people to think critically, strategize and create;” a Washington Post op-ed (5/26/16) said to be by Doc Woods, a “member of Virginians for Quality Healthcare,” calling for curbs on immigration; and a USA Today op-ed (9/25/16) carrying the byline of Kevin Chou, CEO of the computer game company Kabam, that heralded China as a “land of opportunity.”
Now With 50 Percent Less Journalistic Skepticism
EpiPen two-pack (photo: Intropin/Wikimedia)
“Under Fire, Mylan to Offer Generic EpiPen for 50% Less,” was USA Today‘s headline (8/29/16) after the drug-maker announced it would be selling an unbranded version of the lifesaving anti-allergy device for $300 for a two-pack—a little less than half the price the name-brand device currently carries. But that’s the recently jacked-up price that sparked the outrage that forced Mylan to offer a generic alternative; as recently as July 2013, you could buy two EpiPens for $264—making the new generic price a 14 percent increase. And if you go back to 2007, when Mylan acquired the rights to the EpiPen brand, the list price then for two devices was $94. That’s $109 in 2016 dollars—so, on that basis, Mylan’s generic EpiPen is actually a 175 percent price hike. Raising prices exorbitantly so that you can present a slightly less extortionate price as a “sale” is a time-honored marketing tradition. USA Today is under no obligation to promote such scams in its headlines, however.