No, Joe Biden Didn’t Poop His Pants. Plus, the Supreme Court’s Fact-Checking Problem
Some of the most outrageous stories about President Biden are originating from a single, unverified source. On this week’s On the Media, hear about the shadowy organization that’s influencing election narratives. Plus, factual errors are at the heart of a recent Supreme Court decision. Learn how we can reform the system.
[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone interviews Judd Legum, author of Popular Information, about how a rightwing outlet is presenting itself as a neutral news source, all the while pushing coordinated messaging about President Biden.
[18:04] Host Micah Loewinger speaks to Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer at Slate, about the factual errors in a recent Supreme Court ruling concerning guns.
[35:48] Micah interviews Allison Orr Larsen, professor of law at William and Mary, about how so many contested facts reach the highest court via amicus briefs. Plus, how to reform the so-called “amicus machine.”
Further reading:
- “Sinclair floods local news websites with hundreds of deceptive articles about Biden’s mental fitness,” by Judd Legum
- “Clarence Thomas’ Opinion Legalizing Bump Stocks Is Indefensible,” by Mark Joseph Stern
- “The Supreme Court Decisions on Guns and Abortion Relied Heavily on History. But Whose History?” by Allison Orr Larsen
- “It’s a Fact: Supreme Court Errors Aren’t Hard to Find,” by Ryan Gabrielson (2017)
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Related Knowledge Center: Democracy and politics
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.
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
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