Thank You, Baker
NewsGuard, the establishment-backed “fact checker” that according to one report is approximately twice as likely to rate a conservative news site as “untrustworthy” compared to a non-conservative news site, urged caution to critics of the New York Times’ recent decision to alter a headline about Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring admitting to wearing blackface without notifying readers.
NewsGuard is an internet browser extension that displays green “trustworthy” or red “untrustworthy” labels next to links to news sites as its users browse the web. Because it offers a blanket rating to news websites rather than a story-by-story rating, this results in green “trustworthy” ticks sitting next to fake news stories from green-rated publications, which risks presenting users with the perception that false or inaccurate stories from green-rated publications (which include BuzzFeed, Rolling Stone, CNN and the New York Times) can be trusted.
The same is true of the recent New York Times story, where editors changed the phrasing of a headline about Herring admitting wearing blackface from “dark makeup” to “blackface” following criticism of the original headline on social media. The New York Times did not update its article to notify readers of the change or explain why the initial headline was deemed to be inaccurate.
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/02/07/newsguard-defends-new-york-times-stealth-edit-of-blackface-story-not-all-changes-necessarily-corrections/
A Florida state Senator introduced a bill that would ban abortions after an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detected.
The bill was filed by State Sen. Dennis Baxley, a Republican, on Feb. 6. The bill would make it a felony for any person who “knowingly or purposefully performs or induces an abortion on a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of the unborn human being whose fetal heartbeat has been detected.”
The legislation is similar to a bill that passed in Ohio late last year before being vetoed by outgoing Gov. John Kasich.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/florida-senator-introduces-bill-that-would-make-abortions-illegal-after-heartbeat-detection_2794742.html
The bills have limited exceptions, including if a woman’s life is in danger.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/rand-paul-calls-for-senate-hearings-on-fbi-methods-and-selective-prosecution-of-trump-officials/
An attorney for Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic High School student who was vilified after a confrontation with Native American activist Nathan Phillips, said that those who allegedly defamed his client “need to be punished and they need to pay a high price for what they did.”
Todd McMurty, the co-counsel for Sandmann, told Fox News on Feb. 7 that legal action was being considered against dozens of celebrities, media, and other groups on accusations of libel and defamation.
“We are identifying people that may be libel. And then we’re sending out what you call document preservation letters,” McMurty said on the “Todd Starnes Show.” “These letters are designed to put people on notice. … So we sent those to about 52 organizations that include celebrities, national media sources, Catholic diocese that were involved in this. So all those people have received notices.”
https://www.theepochtimes.com/nick-sandmann-lawyer-those-who-attacked-covington-student-need-to-be-punished_2794493.html