Shot in the Dark

Layers And Layers Of Gatekeepers

Lapse in fact-checking among “legitimate” mainstream media over the weekend caused, by itself, a radical ratcheting up of tensions on the Korean Peninsula:

As expected – and feared – during the annual “Day of the Sun” celebration parade (celebrating the birth of the nation’s founder), Bloomberg blasted a headline that Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that North Korea has fired a projectile.

NORTH KOREA FIRES PROJECTILE, MEDIA SAYS: XINHUA
On its website, Bloomberg immediately picked up the story, and ran with “North Korea Fires Projectile Media, Says Xinhua” (at a url which still reads: “https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-15/north-korea-fires-projectile-media-says-xinhua”)

But there was no launch.  Just an appearance at a parade (emphasis added):

However, it appears that the headline scanning [algorithms] made a collosal error, and that Xinhua interpreted events quite incorrectly as it was, as CBC and Reuters reports, the appearance of a new submarine-launched missile at the parade for the first time.

Layers.  And. Layers.  Of.  Gatekeepers.

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Mitch Berg

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10 responses to “Layers And Layers Of Gatekeepers”

  1. DMA Avatar
    DMA

    They attempted to launch a missile. It blew up.

    Did the US have anything to do with that? Trump just winked.

  2. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    Right, Trump is so furious about North Korea that he jetted down to Palm Beach for another relaxing weekend of golf.

  3. MacArthur Wheeler Avatar
    MacArthur Wheeler

    envy is your most attractive attribute Emery

  4. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    Thumbs up on your new handle Kel!

  5. Mammuthus Primigenius Avatar
    Mammuthus Primigenius

    So we have a president who speaks in, well, Trump speak. He basically just throws things out there to see what happens.
    But the press is just as bad. For example, the press will print anything about Trump or people in his administration without confirmation. This past week journalists — real, live reporters with college degrees and everything — ran with the story that Sessions called immigrants “human filth.”
    Sessions has been in politics a long, long time. America has a lot of immigrants I’d bet that a pretty large number of Americans are immigrants, or have immigrants that are friends or family. The idea that Sessions would refer to all immigrants as “human filth” in prepared remarks in prepared remarks is absurd.
    Yet they ran with the story, not even bothering to question what was obviously a bad story or remarks taken out of context or whatever.

    Washington Post contributor Daniel W. Drezner published an apology for contributing to the misreporting about Sessions’ remarks on Twitter. He wrote:

    Full stop, I was wrong, and I apologize to the attorney general for making this mistake. I wish I had caught the error in time to delete the tweet before it went viral. Alas, I did not. Deleting it now seems like I’d be trying to erase my mistake. I did respond with a follow-up tweet, but that is insufficient given all the attention this received.
    http://www.snopes.com/jeff-sessions-immigrants-filth/

  6. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    Even his cabinet cannot hide that Trump is lying. Steve Mnuchin: ”the combination of the facts and the combination of what the president said” i.e. the combination of facts and lies. This is an amazing quote.  Where’s Kellyanne when you need her to pitch in?

  7. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    OK, Emery, so what you’re saying is that Trump’s cabinet is far more honest than Obama’s. Sounds good to me.

  8. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    Mnuchin was conceding that the administration’s timetable for ambitious tax reforms is set to slip following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare.
    Mnuchin said the target to get tax reforms through Congress and to Trump before August was “highly aggressive to not realistic at this point”. Massive understatement.

    The Trump plan revolved around three things.

    Firstly, healthcare reform that removed coverage from millions, raise deductibles and premiums for millions more, but would cut taxes for those on highest income.
    Secondly, a border tax based on the false premise that VAT is somehow different to US sales taxes and that is probably illegal under WTO rules.
    Thirdly, a bit of stardust and showbiz to promise growth to jump to 3 – 4%.
    The first is political suicide, the second is economic suicide and the third is a fantasy (especially so given the first two)
    So yes, it might take a bit longer than expected.

    This administration is just sleepwalking without a strategy.

  9. Scott Hughes Avatar
    Scott Hughes

    “This administration is just sleepwalking without a strategy.” Bullcrap Emery.

    The admin has been working to get Congress off it’s ass and get legislation done to resolve the onerous O’care. It’s the job of congress to make that happen.

    As for the parade of missiles I have to wonder how many were actually functional, or how many were actually made of paper mache.

  10. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    The Senate took an Easter recess from April 10th to the 21st and the House from Apr 7th to the 24th. April 28th is the deadline for averting a government shut down. The GOP is hopelessly split. That is why healthcare failed.

    I repeat: This administration is just sleepwalking without a strategy. Who knew it was so complicated?

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