How is Bureau of Labor Statistics data collected, and why is Trump targeting it?
A government agency best known for its number-crunching prowess became the target of the president’s criticism last week when a federal jobs report was revised to show a less-than-rosy economic picture.
President Donald Trump ordered the firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a bleak jobs report showed signs of a slowing economy, and revised figures revealed things were worse for the labor market than initially reported in May and June.
The high-profile firing and fallout has cast a spotlight on the agency’s data, which has long been used to measure key markers of the economy. The BLS, an agency of the Labor Department, collects and analyzes data on the labor market and consumer prices, and its reports are used widely throughout government and industry to inform economic decisions.
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Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.
Democracy and politics | Signalgate | The CBS submission | Voiceless America
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News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.
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In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors