New York Times gets humiliatingly played by an anti-vaxx activist

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

As COVID-19 vaccination mandates start being more widely enforced, the vast majority of people are getting on board—in fact, a significant majority of adults were already vaccinated before mandates were put in place. But the very small percentage of people refusing to be vaccinated, at the cost of their jobs, is getting the headlines, as if people who refuse to be vaccinated are the new Trump voters in Midwestern diners.

From The Wall Street Journal to The Washington Post to USA Today to NPR to Fox News (and Fox News, and Fox News again), these stories make the small percentage of people doing something dangerous to themselves and everyone around them into the story, rather than the majority of people who got vaccinated right away or the potentially very interesting group of people who didn’t want to get vaccinated but did do so because of mandates. That group, too, outnumbers people leaving their jobs over this. But major media outlets aren’t interested in hearing from them.

And we can’t trust what we read about the refusers. Take this New York Times piece looking at the “sizable, unwavering contingent” of vaccine refusers (less than 5% of people in most cases) through interviews with six of them. One of them is Josephine Valdez, who the Times fails to tell us is a Trump-supporting anti-vaccine activist who has participated in an attack on a coronavirus testing site:

Link to tweet

That’s a far cry from the regretful public school paraprofessional the Times describes giving up her job and moving back in with her parents despite the pleas of her “distressed” students to get vaccinated and stay on the job. In this case, we didn’t even get a reliable thumbnail sketch of the person who led off a major article.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/25/2060106/-A-tiny-percentage-of-people-leave-their-jobs-over-vaccine-mandates-but-they-dominate-the-headlines

[Bev54]

1. This is nothing new for the Times or for outlets like CNN who continually interview the purveyors of

misinformation and antivaxxers. I remember before the election, many of their so called focus groups that included Trumpers who worked to get Trump elected but they either never vetted them or purposefully ignored that fact and failed to disclose it. So sick of hearing from the minority instead of the majority. Why don't they hold some of their "focus" groups to educate them on what is in Biden's plan, but then I guess they think that will not bring in viewers. Here is the kicker, last week they did not get a million viewers for any of their shows so perhaps, they should start playing for the majority.

[greenjar_01]

2. They didn't get played

They know exactly what they're doing and whom they're contacting for quotes.

Gimme a break.

[comradebillyboy]

3. It seems to be standard operating procedure for the NY Times.

They work way too hard at the both sides are equivalent game. Times seems to have great journalists doing really shoddy journalism.

[pecosbob]

4. Remember how only Trumpers were interviewed by the media during the last two elections?

Think about how many progressives they interviewed. The media makes cash when they scare everyone. They've become part of the story instead of just reporting the facts, spinning reality into fiction when it bumps their ratings. Unfortunately no one ever stopped to consider that this polarization could destroy our democracy and our nation.

[tanyev]

5. Haven't a lot of the "concerned" parents/tax payers speaking at school board meetings

eventually been revealed as right wing activists?