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Victim Devastatingly Fact Checks CNN Sex Harass Headline for Anti-GOP Slant

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Look, it’s no secret that CNN and the New York Times are hardly bastions of fairness or impartiality.

But they at least try to pass as something resembling actual journalism. In total fairness, there are likely hard-working men and women there who actually do take their craft seriously. At least, I hope that’s the case.

Quite frequently, however, left-leaning publications like CNN and The Times get so enamored with their latest anti-GOP story, they seem to throw things like due diligence and actual investigative journalism right out the window.

Worse yet, the pessimist in me sometimes thinks that the lack of integrity is completely intentional. How can I think otherwise when stories like these frequently pop up?

Both CNN and the Times recently ran stories smearing the GOP over issues of sexual abuse.

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Both were clearly misleading with an undeniable anti-GOP slant.

Neither offered any apology or corrections.

Here are the stories, which relate to an aide to Rep. Mark Meadows being accused of sexual harassment and outgoing Democratic Rep. Ruben Kihuen being accused of making “persistent and unwanted advances towards women” who dealt with him in his role as a United States lawmaker.

“House Ethics Committee chides Meadows, Kihuen over sexual harassment allegations,” reads the CNN headline.

“Ethics Committee Rebukes Mark Meadows Over Aide’s Sexual Misconduct,” reads the New York Times.

Both headlines are problematic, albeit for different reasons.

CNN’s headline makes it seem like Meadows is the one the sexual harassment allegations are aimed towards.

The Times’ headline is clear that it was Meadows’ aide, but conveniently forgets to mention Kihuen at all, though Kihuen is also mentioned in the story. (Buried, of course, since he’s a Democrat and it’s The Times, but it’s in there.)

Of utmost importance, it has to be noted that Meadows’ aide was cited for sexual misconduct, not Meadows himself, while Kihuen himself was busted for personally engaging in aggressive behavior, according to CNN. One could be an oversight that still deserves criticism, the other is a deliberate act that should be condemned.

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To be fair, it’s not just CNN and the New York Times that are running these misleading headlines. Liberal-leaning publications like The Washington Post and Politico ran similar headlines. But just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t make it right.

CNN’s headline is arguably worse than the Times. Yes, the Times miraculously forgot to mention the Democratic angle to the story, but at least the headline is factual enough. CNN’s headline is blatantly misleading.

It’s so misleading, in fact, that one of the alleged victims of the harassment in the story had to speak out and do CNN’s editors’ job for them.

“This headline is misleading – so let me clear it up,” Alyssa Farah wrote on her Twitter account. “Meadows never sexually harassed anyone. His former staffer did. I know, I am 1 of the women in the report.”

Ouch. Farah, who is the press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence, went on to further rebuke the CNN story.

“I respect the (Ethics Committee) but my experience was that Meadows had my back, took me at my word, & respected & protected me,” Farah added.

Grossly misleading headlines like these are exactly why President Donald Trump labels so much of the mainstream media the “enemy of the people.”

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Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics.
Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics. He graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. He is an avid fan of sports, video games, politics and debate.
Birthplace
Hawaii
Education
Class of 2010 University of Arizona. BEAR DOWN.
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English, Korean
Topics of Expertise
Sports, Entertainment, Science/Tech




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