Video of an Alleged 'White Van' Kidnapping in Springfield Went Viral. Nothing Actually Happened.
Police say there were no reports of attempted kidnappings.
Media Criticism
Brazilian Federal Prosecutors Target Journalist Glenn Greenwald for Exposing Corruption
Authoritarian Jair Bolsonaro attacks the press using the same justification the U.S. used to charge Julian Assange.
A Year Ago, the Media Mangled the Covington Catholic Story. What Happened Next Was Even Worse.
Journalists and pundits who frantically doubled down on their initial bad takes deserve more criticism.
Super Bowl Sex-Trafficking Myths Return
And they're just as wrong and dangerous this time around.
CNN Settles Lawsuit With Covington Catholic Student Nick Sandmann
The high school student was falsely accused of racial harassment, and has sued media companies for $800 million.
The 'Negativity Effect' Leads to Bad Journalism, Big Government, and Busted Relationships
John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister want to defeat The Power of Bad.
The 2010s: When the Media Lost Their Gatekeepers
Media theorist Marshall McLuhan's work best explains how the world changed in the 2010s—and what we can expect in the decade ahead.
How To Fight the 'Power of Bad' and the 'Negativity Effect'
Human beings are designed to remember trauma more than joy, bad times more than good ones. But John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister have good news on the despair front.
As More Evidence Implicates Vitamin E Acetate in Lung Injuries, the Press Continues to Blame E-Cigarettes That Don't Contain It
The black-market additive showed up in lung fluid from 48 of 51 patients with "probable or confirmed" diagnoses.
Ignore the Critics and Enjoy a Sour Bite of Apple's Vicious The Morning Show
Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon kill it as troubled television journalists in a changing media environment.
Hardcore History's Dan Carlin on Why The End Is Always Near
The podcast superstar talks about how media gatekeepers have been mostly vanquished and his deep interest in liberty and freedom.
An 8-Year-Old Girl Says She Was Almost Kidnapped. Media and Parents Freaked Out. It Was a Hoax.
Two days later, the cops figured out the story was make believe.
This Case, Which Resulted in a 20-Year Prison Sentence, Supposedly Showed How Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' Law Lets People Get Away With Murder
Michael Drejka said he had to shoot Markeis McGlockton in self-defense. Jurors disagreed.
Why Is the Colorado Governor's Office Trying to Censor Rural News Outlets?
A spokesman for Gov. Jared Polis objects to a news story not because it’s wrong, but because of who wrote it.
Maybe the Media Mishandled the New Brett Kavanaugh Book Because It's Mostly a Dud
The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation doesn't shed much light on the Supreme Court justice or the allegations against him.
The Babylon Bee Satirizes the Absurdities of American Politics
Snopes doesn’t seem to get the joke.
Why Is the CDC Still Fostering Potentially Deadly Confusion About Vaping and Lung Disease?
Contrary to the evidence, public health officials and journalists continue to link the recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses with legal e-cigarettes.
Survey Suggests Lung Disease Misinformation Has Compounded Confusion About the Hazards of E-Cigarettes
If that confusion drives vapers back to smoking or discourages others from making the switch, it will have deadly consequences.
How Did The New York Times Botch the Brett Kavanaugh Story?
Plus: Attacks on Saudi Arabia unlikely to raise U.S. oil prices
Alabama Dean Resigns After Conservative Snowflakes Publicize His Old Tweets
Right-wing cancel culture comes for Jamie Riley, who dared to criticize the American flag.
Labor Department Official Quits After Bloomberg Law Reporter Discovers Anti-Semitic Facebook Post That Is Not Actually Anti-Semitic
Leif Olson was clearly making fun of the alt-right.
The Media Claimed Andy Ngo Was Complicit in a Far-Right Attack on Antifa. But the Video Doesn't Support That.
“There’s some merit in some of the criticisms of things that I’ve gotten wrong,” admits the former Quillette reporter.
Blaming Breathing Problems on 'Vaping' Is Like Blaming Food Poisoning on Eating
Two dozen patients hospitalized in the Midwest all reportedly had vaped something at some point, but we don't know what it was or whether it caused their symptoms.
Are Hookahs More Dangerous Than Cigarettes, or Does Misleading University Publicity Generate Inaccurate Reporting?
The sexiest discoveries are often the ones not found in the actual study.
No, Scientists Didn't Find That Men Are Afraid to Carry Reusable Bags for Fear of Appearing Gay
The media are misreporting this one wildly.
Was Charging Sarah Palin With Complicity in Mass Murder an Honest Mistake?
The former vice presidential candidate's revived defamation suit against The New York Times highlights the hazards of us-versus-them thinking.
No, Texas Did Not Respond to El Paso Shooting by Passing Lenient Gun Laws
It's foolish for media outlets to imply that laws which were signed in May and June were passed in relation to the tragic shooting in El Paso.
Free Speech on the Internet Continues to Confuse Everyone
Plus: 8chan called before Congress, data privacy bill hits a snag, and more...
The Dismissal of Nicholas Sandmann's Lawsuit Shows There's a Difference Between Unfair Press Coverage and Libel
While the teenager has a legitimate beef about coverage of his encounter with Native American activist Nathan Phillips, that doesn't mean he has a legal cause of action.
Another Way Fentanyl Phobia Can Be Deadly: It Undermines Good Samaritan Laws
Irrational fear of incidental contact with opioids can lead to criminal charges that make overdose bystanders less likely to call 911.
The Erica Thomas Incident Wasn't National News, But That Never Stops Our Outrage-Hungry Media
A trivial encounter between two irate grocery shoppers becomes a viral story, then a hate hoax.
The Washington Post 's Simplistic Assumption That More Opioid Prescriptions Mean More Drug Overdoses Is Demonstrably Wrong
The causes of opioid-related deaths are more complicated than "too many pain pills."
Relax, the Dominican Republic Hasn't Become Less Safe for Americans
Misleading media coverage took an immediate toll on the island's important tourism industry.
If Cops Don't Die From Incidental Fentanyl Exposure, a Drug Treatment Specialist Warns, They 'Could Become Addicted to It Instantly'
Such scaremongering poses a potentially deadly threat.
Watch the Media Manufacture a Dumb Story About Bernie Sanders and Sexism
No, Sanders didn't say Warren is surging just because she's a woman.
That Story About Kids Growing Horns Because of Smartphones Is Fake News
Researchers made no effort to link the two.
Reminder To All the News Outlets Hiring Rahm Emanuel: He's Awful
Emanuel was a habitual violator of Illinois' public records laws and shielded the police from public scrutiny whenever he could.
Press Parrots Police Talking Points on Arrest of Alleged Drug Dealers' Bird
It's fair to take the cops' account with a grain of salt.
Julian Assange Is a Better Journalist Than Many of His Media Critics
Journalism is at risk not just from government but from media types who see their jobs as protecting the powerful from embarrassment.
The Percentage of Americans Who Understand That Vaping Is Less Dangerous Than Smoking Continues to Fall
Years of mealy-mouthed, misleading, and mendacious statements by activists, government officials, and journalists have taken a toll on the truth.
Florida Cases Restoke Chinese Conspiracy Fears
Yujing Zhang, Cindy Yang, and prostitution busts at Chinese spas have planted the seeds for new conspiratorial corruption narratives to bloom.
Media Must Drop the Political Shenanigans and Get Back to Scrutinizing the Powerful
Covering stories is too important to abandon for brazen partisan pandering-or wishful thinking.
Knock It Off, Lazy News Outlets. 'Momo' Isn't Telling Kids To Hurt Themselves.
When absurd ghost stories are passed off as actual journalism
This Is the World From Which Trump Emerged
A&E's Trump Dynasty explores the president's family and business history but doesn't do justice to the corrupt New York culture surrounding it.
Jussie Smollett Reminds Us That Some Hate Crimes Are Hoaxes—and the Statistics Are a Mess
As the investigation turns on the Empire star, it's important not to confuse "reality" with "narrative."
Journalists Criticize CNN for Planning Journalism About Howard Schultz
Town hall pilloried because Schultz is undeclared, uninformed, unelectable...and because he might become the next-or help the current-Donald Trump.
The Media Wildly Mischaracterized That Video of Covington Catholic Students Confronting a Native American Veteran
Journalists who uncritically accepted Nathan Phillips' story got this completely wrong.
