{"id":2663,"date":"2024-09-04T21:31:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T21:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?p=2663"},"modified":"2024-09-04T22:52:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T22:52:58","slug":"dnc-coverage-pbs-journalist-shares-false-news-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/04\/dnc-coverage-pbs-journalist-shares-false-news-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"One Journalist’s Fake-News Moment and How It Relates to our Divides"},"content":{"rendered":"

During coverage of the Democratic National Convention, PBS reporter Judy Woodruff reported that Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to delay reaching a ceasefire in order to deny a win to Kamala Harris\u2019s campaign. Netanyahu and Trump <\/span>denied that report<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Woodruff <\/span>apologized<\/span><\/a>, saying that she had based her statement on <\/span>reporting<\/span><\/a> by Axios and Reuters, but hadn\u2019t verified it before going live. Adding to the confusion, the public reports she referenced didn\u2019t mention Trump trying to delay a ceasefire \u2014 making it unclear where that information came from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many people were understandably upset by this. Responding to Woodruff\u2019s apology, someone <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>, \u201cI’m curious. Have you ever made a reporting mistake which harmed the prospects of a Democrat candidate?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another person <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>, \u201cAs a journalist with ANY MERIT AND INTEGRITY, you should know that you never go forward with a story without \ud83d\udcaf proof to back it up. The fact that you did just proves, once again, what Trump and many others have stated. There is no independent media any longer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t share this story to pile on in blaming Woodruff. We know that mistakes happen and, truthfully, many of us make similar mistakes these days. Our divides ensure that bias and emotions run high, which can lead to mistakes like Woodruff\u2019s. (There may also be details about why Woodruff said that that aren’t yet known.) But we saw this moment as an opportunity to discuss aspects of our divides that don\u2019t get enough attention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Views that Trump is treated unfairly<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

For one thing, anti-Trump people should try to understand how moments like this one contribute to the widely held view among Trump supporters that he has been \u2014 and is being \u2014 <\/span>unfairly<\/span><\/a> maligned<\/span><\/a>. It also adds fuel to the belief that liberal-leaning journalists and leaders face no real repercussions for being wrong about such things, while conservatives who do similar are harshly criticized.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At least one outlet ran with Woodruff\u2019s second-hand reporting as if it was first-hand. The New Republic\u2019s article, titled, <\/span>\u201cTrump\u2019s Latest Scheme to Beat Harris May Have Crossed Legal Lines,\u201d<\/span><\/a> treated Woodruff\u2019s statement as a primary source. They later added an update to the body of the story, but the headline and the introduction of the story remained the same. This dynamic of outlets seeming to be selective in what they forcibly retract and publish contributes to a perception among Trump supporters that many news outlets are biased.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be clear: <\/span>you don\u2019t have to agree with people who have these concerns to understand why they have them<\/i><\/b>. <\/b>Being willing to see such views can help anti-Trump people engage in better, more empathetic ways with pro-Trump people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We all make mistakes<\/b><\/h3>\n

Pro-Trump people angry at Woodruff should recognize that mistakes happen. Even in a highly unified country with a widely trusted fourth estate, mistakes happen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One symptom of our toxic divides is that people across the political spectrum <\/span>become more intolerant of standard things<\/span><\/i> (like journalists making mistakes). We filter all events through the most pessimistic lens possible (AKA, <\/span>negativity bias<\/span><\/a>) and downplay transgressions on \u201cour side,\u201d focusing our attention on transgressions we see on the \u201cother side.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Criticizing Woodruff is understandable; it was an easily avoidable mistake and her biases may have played a role there. But such mistakes are made more common by our toxic divides. Most of us are simply trying to do our best in an often chaotic and confusing world. Even professionals sometimes get it wrong.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We become more suspicious of each other<\/b><\/h3>\n

Some <\/span>pro-Trump people spoke<\/span><\/a> as if Woodruff told a false story intentionally. But think about that for a second: how would it help her to do that? If she were purposefully deceiving, she\u2019d know that she\u2019d quickly be corrected and receive negative press about it. She paid a price for her mistake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We should try to recognize that our toxic divides can lead us to be overly suspicious and paranoid \u2014 which can be seen as an offshoot of our increased pessimism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us strive to see each others\u2019 humanity<\/b><\/h3>\n

For those of us who care about reducing <\/span>toxicity and contempt<\/span><\/a> (which we believe should include everyone), we must all work on reducing bias, strive for accuracy, embrace empathy (even for those we see as very wrong), and try to cut others some slack when they make mistakes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These things are not easy, especially when our fears and hostility are at their peak \u2014 as they are in the run-up to a close and contentious election. But we must strive to make it a guiding light on the horizon we follow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to stay in the loop about efforts to reduce our toxic divides? <\/span><\/i>Sign up for our newsletter<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During coverage of the Democratic National Convention, PBS reporter Judy Woodruff reported that Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to delay reaching a ceasefire in order to deny a win to Kamala Harris\u2019s campaign. Netanyahu and Trump denied that report.\u00a0 Woodruff apologized, saying that she had based her statement on reporting by Axios and Reuters,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":2664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"collection_feed":[],"type_feed":[83],"class_list":["post-2663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOne Journalist's Fake-News Moment and How It Relates to our Divides - Builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/04\/dnc-coverage-pbs-journalist-shares-false-news-trump\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One Journalist's Fake-News Moment and How It Relates to our Divides - Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During coverage of the Democratic National Convention, PBS reporter Judy Woodruff reported that Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to delay reaching a ceasefire in order to deny a win to Kamala Harris\u2019s campaign. 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