December 31, 2014

George Will - Serial Misinformer

Via Mediamatters:
"[W]hen they make victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges, victims proliferate."

This single phrase has followed George Will for the last six months. The syndicated conservative columnist, considered by many a thoughtful intellectual rather than a bomb-thrower, severely damaged his brand when he wrote a June 2014 column dismissing efforts on college campuses to combat the epidemic of sexual assault and suggesting that women who say they were raped receive "privileges." The column has sparked hundreds to protest his public appearances, challenges from U.S. Senators and women's rights groups, and the dropping of his column from a major newspaper.

Will's 2014 misinformation was not limited to attacking and dismissing rape victims. Throughout the year, Will failed to disclose several major conflicts of interest in his columns, and his tangled relationship with political entities backed by Charles and David Koch was cited by the outgoing ethics chair of the Society of Professional Journalists as the kind of conflict journalists should disclose in their writing. His history as a prominent denier of climate change also helped further undermine his credibility, with more than 100,000 people signing a petition demanding the Washington Post stop printing the science misinformation he and others regularly push in its pages. [Italics in Original]
By the way Mr Will shows up on the pages of both local newspapers, The P-G and The Trib.

Though to be fair to my friends at the P-G, that rape column only appeared at The Trib and he doesn't seem to have nearly as much climate denial stuff at The P-G as he does at The Trib.

Just letting you know,  Next time you read something by George at either paper, just remember he's gotten a lot of stuff really really wrong.

A lot.

1 comment:

  1. attacking and dismissing rape victims
    Like Lena Dunham and the Rolling stone UVA accuser.
    As President of the National Organization for Women Terry O’Neill said the more discrepancies in a woman's rape story indicates that a rape in fact did take place and the police have a special sense that detects when someone is lying.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmkhXfqsCko

    Using Media Matters standard I can dismiss them because of Media Matters "tangled relationship with political entities backed by" George Soros and Tom Steyer.



    BTW support the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights
    http://moonbatman.blogspot.com/2014/10/support-law-enforcement-bill-of-rights.html
    because the Law Enforcement caste is entitled to impunity for their violence and protection from harm above all others.

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