NBC News Launched New Smear On Paul Pelosi

 

If you're a viewer of a certain corporate tv news network, you might want to switch channels:

NBC News reporter Miguel Almaguer had what seemed like a scoop on Friday about an intruder’s attack last week on Paul Pelosi. The curious new details he presented on the “Today” show quickly went viral on right-wing sites and social media accounts.

One problem: Much of Almaguer’s account was inaccurate, based on flawed information provided by a source who was unnamed in the report, according to people at the network. Those people said Almaguer was incorrect when he reported that the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave police no indication he was in danger when he answered the door. In fact, San Francisco police have said that Pelosi was struggling with the intruder, David DePape, when they first saw him.

But before NBC News’s hasty removal of the video from its website — accompanied by a vague note that the story “did not meet NBC News reporting standards” — it spawned a sinister new narrative...

We won't stink up this post any further with this particular example of egregious media malpractice (at the very least) except to say that this isn't the first incident where NBC News helped launch a right- wing smear.  You may recall NBC News/ Fox "News" aspirant Dasha Burns' effort to paint Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman in an unflattering light, an effort that was rewarded by the usual suspects:

The whole mess started with an NBC News segment on Fetterman in which reporter Dasha Burns discussed her pre-interview interaction with Fetterman, which didn’t involve closed captioning.

“Without captioning, it wasn’t clear he was understanding our conversation,” Burns said. The interview itself used closed captioning, and throughout it Fetterman had no visible problems processing or “understanding” her questions.

The problem is her use of the word “understanding,” which could be construed to suggest cognitive impairment, potentially misleading voters. Health experts note a sharp distinction between that and the post-stroke challenges in auditory processing Fetterman is experiencing, which can be mitigated with closed captioning but don’t impact cognitive functions such as intelligence or decision-making.

Burns did make this distinction clearer in an MSNBC appearance, explaining that closed captioning was needed to mitigate processing issues. But she again suggested Fetterman had trouble “understanding” her without it.

And presto: That language is exactly what [Fox's fascist fanboy Tucker] Carlson latched on to in his Wednesday night segment. He aired that Burns quote and then cynically transformed it into something even worse.

Burns' smear may have had a lasting effect on the race, which has been tightening as Republicans and their handmaidens in the media have continued to cast doubt on Fetterman's health.  Having lazy "reporters" and editors on your roster who act as willing or unwilling dupes at a time when our country's democracy is at stake is unforgivable.  Once in a cycle is bad enough.  Twice?  Time to switch channels.