Monday, July 5, 2021

Dishonest Framing of a Partisan Problem

I used to take pleasure in reading the New York Times, which purports to be the 'Paper of Record'.  On Sundays back in the 1990s, reading the Sunday Times and doing the crossword puzzle was a favored post-hangover ritual after a night of carousing.  These days, though, I don't even bother clicking on links to the website because the way the paper frames stories gives me agita.  I mean, check out this pretty bit of journalistic malpractice from the NYT chief White House correspondent:

Biden fell short?  For months, it has been known that Republicans are hesitating to take the COVID-19 vaccine.  Twenty states have hit the 70% rate of residents receiving at least one shot... all of them majority Democratic states.  Singling out Mississippi and Alabama, these states have fewer than one-third of their residents vaccinated.  In a particularly worrisome development, the Delta variant of COVID-19 is becoming more prevalent in low-vaccine regions.

While the Biden Administration's vaccine rollout has been well-coordinated, there is an even better-coordinated disinformation campaign, mainly on the right.  I've heard whackos claim the the vaccine magnetizes people, that it causes miscarriages, that it neuters young people... if you have the intestinal fortitude, these gentlemen do a wonderful job of cataloging disinformation.  In the face of such intransigence, it's a miracle that Biden was able to achieve a 67% vaccination rate.  This Peter Baker guy can go piss up a rope.  As for the Times, not even Will Shortz can get me to buy the paper anymore.

3 comments:

Pretzelogic in Philly, PA said...

Mississippi: putting the "Delta" in "Delta variant" since 2021.

Richard said...

I am so disappointed with some of my friends and neighbors.
They refuse to get vaccinated because they don't trust the government. Duh! I don't trust the government either.
It doesn't mean i will cut my nose off just to spite my face.
We have a vaccine, a useful thing.
Who is the government? It is us.

Burr Deming said...

The fact that the vaccine is magnetic is not entirely undesirable. Lately it's been much easier to catch a bus. I do have to admit it is not always voluntary.