Kerby Anderson

In a recent Point of View booklet that I wrote about media bias, I began by talking about the influence that “the narrative” has in the establishment media. The narrative in the minds of reporters and editors helps them determine which facts to include and which to discard. In a recent article, columnist Wilfred Reilly catalogs the many current examples of how the media narrative was wrong but blinded those in the media to some important facts and information.

The first example has been the question about the origin of the virus. Early on, most of the media discounted the idea that the virus could have come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The lab-leak theory was labeled a conspiracy theory and was considered taboo. If you continued to cite evidence for that theory, you could be banned (even permanently) from social media. Now most media outlets will at least acknowledge the plausibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory.

Another example is the drug hydroxychloroquine. A media narrative developed early on to discount the effectiveness of the drug, probably because Donald Trump talked about it. Now there is a major study that has since found that the drug can increase survival rates for Covid patients.

A third example can be found in the press story that President Trump ordered tear gas against peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square so that he could stage a photo op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Almost a year later, most of the establishment media acknowledge that this is not true. One government report explained that the professional park police made plans for the raid days or weeks earlier, and that the protestors were anything but peaceful.

These three examples illustrate how powerful a media narrative can be and is one more reminder for why we need discernment when we consume the news.