The Media Fail Awards
VOTE to name the biggest news disasters of the year
Welcome to the 2024 Media Fail Awards!
Which news agencies blew it the biggest this year? You decide. Below are the nominees, along with the episodes about them, and your anonymous “ballot.” Vote!
In upcoming episodes (36 and 37) I’ll give you my strongest arguments for each of these being the worst. Vote by December 28, then tune in to hear who won — er, lost. Share this so others can vote!
If you’d like to submit a voice memo or a written message about what the media has done this year or your hopes for the year ahead, use this form (anyone) or comments/messaging here in the newsletter (paid subscribers, who also get first dibs).
Category 1: Biggest Single Fail - Broadcast
CNN’s Biden-Trump debate. The biggest scandal of political “debates” should be how “journalists” do nothing about all the lying. In this case, CNN even left open the possibility of fact checking but chose not to:
CBS’ post-Coates interview disaster. A bigoted author freely spread lies in media interviews. When one journalist, an anchor, finally challenged him, the network turned on its own anchor. Corporate owners even piled on:
MSNBC’s liefest for a queen. Joy Reid erased her alleged commitments to democracy, women’s rights and more to fawn over Queen Rania, who pushed Hamas propaganda. No mention of U.S. soldiers killed, Israeli women raped, Jordan harboring a U.S. Most Wanted terrorist, and much more:
CNN’s bonkers lie about militaries. A “fact check” in which the reporter says the exact opposite of what’s true. I got an an interview with CNN’s own military analyst disproving him, but the network still did nothing about the lying:
Vote!
Category 2: Biggest Single Fail - Text
Washington Post reverses reality. Hezbollah slaughters Druze children who were playing soccer, and the Post leads the media in erasing reality. Among those calling it out is a terrific actress and activist:
LA Times owner creates a mess. In defending the cancellation of a Kamala endorsement, Patrick Soon-Shiong says he’s on the Editorial Board. According to the paper, he isn’t. When non-journalist owners meddle, debacles ensue:
NY Times refuses to correct. On top of citing Hamas claims as legit, the NYT said another group “independently confirmed” a Gaza death toll. I checked. It didn’t. The Times wrote me saying they don’t correct some falsehoods:
AP violates its policies to slam professor. Ignoring basic journalistic standards, the AP goes after outspoken professor and media critic Shai Davidai, who bravely calls out antisemitism and media bias:
Vote!
Worst Overall - Broadcast
CNN. In addition to the above, CNN has made lots of appearances on They Stand Corrected. From citing untrustworthy data to credit Trump with success among Black voters, to burying hacked emails this time around, to falsely using terms like “occupied” and “international law,” to pushing a claim about Gaza that even Hamas stopped saying, CNN’s 2024 failings were indeed epic.
BBC. It may be the world’s most influential news broadcaster, and its antisemitic bigotry is scandalous. A 199-page study found that the BBC breached its guidelines more than 1500 times in just four months to bash Israel. (I interviewed the author.) Leaders also refused to act against bigoted treatment of employees.
NPR. With perhaps the largest U.S. broadcast news audience, it may be the leading broadcaster of the big lie of the left. It has made numerous appearances here (e.g. avoiding the word “terrorism” only when Israelis are targeted). And despite a public faceoff with Elon Musk over state funding, NPR hypocritically refuses to call Al Jazeera what it is: state-owned Qatari propaganda.
CBS. In punishing journalism (see above), it created a silencing effect for the entire news industry. It banned truth — facts plus context — when it comes to the tiny Jewish state. The network already made numerous appearances on They Stand Corrected for failings like whitewashing Hamas claims.
Vote!
Worst Overall - Text
1. AP. Possibly the most influential news agency (many others rely on its wires and stylebook), the AP violates its own policies and basic rules of journalism to spread antisemitism. I’ve cited it on everything from the “crying wolf myth” to hiding the existence of Israeli victims in headlines. The AP might be the media’s ultimate gatekeeper for the big lie of the left.
2. The Washington Post. Owner Jeff Bezos pulled the paper’s planned endorsement of Kamala, showing fear of Trump. Meanwhile, he did nothing about the Post’s extreme anti-Israel agenda, quantified by a study. The paper’s Middle East coverage is led largely by former Al Jazeera propagandists. An insider told me about hypocrisy in the rank and file.
3. The New York Times. Its constant lying, anti-Israel stories and headlines are infamous. Its op-ed team’s journalistic failures, explored in a study, even included giving a hate monger space to misuse data. It’s no surprise the NYT considers a few fleeting moments of fact checking at a debate to be revelatory.
Vote! (Yup, only 3 in this category because, in a field of bad, they were the worst.)
Sponsor the Media Fail Awards! You’ll be thanked on the show, and can have physical awards sent to the news agencies, providing them with a powerful reminder to do better. To sponsor, become a founding member of this newsletter.
Two more questions:
5. Biggest Beneficiary
6. Biggest Loser
Remember, your votes are anonymous. But if you’d like to submit a message to be shared on the show, post here in comments or through messaging (paid subscribers) or via this form.
Tune in to episodes 36 and 37 for details on the nominees. Then stay tuned for the winners.
And spread the word!
JL
Incredibly valuable documentation, Josh. The saddest part is the poor performance of the previously most trusted legacy media. It’s why I read/watch less and less news there. But I wonder what your research has found with right wing media as well.