Utilizing ‘fake news’

On March 18th, the CDT accorded Rep. Glenn Thompson a top, wall-to-wall large font headline, “Rep. Thompson says he will not vote in favor of proposed GOP health care bill.” He got everything he wanted: instant recognition; strong position taken, using equivocation only in the very first line in the body of the statement (... the way it stands ...). Change one comma, and it is rendered useless for the headline readers. I suspected as much two days later when I could not find his name on any list published anywhere, so I called his office and was told that was no longer true. Damage done. Voters beware.

I thought back to the Republican debates of the summer when I could hear “let them die” cries from the audience when health care would be the focus of the debate.

On March 28th, the CDT published a story concerning Mara Einstein’s speech at Penn State. Einstein, a Queens College media studies professor, focused on a different definition of “fake news.” In the same edition, the CDT published a letter headlined “Thompson working hard to serve,” by Laurence F. Lane, a 30-year friend of Thompson’s — a spokesperson for the health industry. The CDT should have printed both of those articles side by side. The letter would have been a great example for the Einstein speech to explore as relevant to Thompson’s obvious attempt at obfuscation.

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Utilizing ‘fake news’."