Free Republic

The New York Post's breaking news of emails purporting to show Hunter Biden scheming to make money off the family name has created a social media firestorm. Twitter began blocking users from sharing it almost instantly. Facebook didn't block the story outright, but they did announce almost immediately that they were "reducing its distribution on our platform." Even for the most sober observer, it sure seems like the social media platforms are interfering with the free flow of information relevant to our election. This is all the more so when you consider that stories critical of President Donald Trump, such...

A new case study illustrates clearly that Facebook should reevaluate its partnership with PolitiFact, which does not operate as a responsible fact-checking organization. Challenged over its vague ruling on a new ad targeting the Equality Act from the American Principles Project PAC, PolitiFact refused to muster a serious defense of the decision, choosing instead to brush aside fair questions.“Our story is complete and accurate, and the ad is most certainly missing context. I could expound on those points, but it is not necessary, so I have nothing more to add,” Editor-in-Chief Angie Holan told The Federalist on Thursday.Holan sent...

The Tampa Bay Times announced Monday it will no longer publish mug shot galleries of arrests made in the newspaper's circulation area, with the executive editor saying the photo collections "serve little journalistic purpose." "The galleries lack context and further negative stereotypes," said Tampa Bay Times Executive Editor Mark Katches. "We think the data is an important resource that our newsroom will continue to analyze and watch carefully, but the galleries alone serve little journalistic purpose." Katches said the paper, which is owned by the Poynter Institute, will still publish individual mug shots with stories when arrests have been made....

An announcement from the Poynter Institute naming NBC’s Chuck Todd the “media personality of the year” while calling his Meet the Press the “gold standard” was met with derision and laughter on the internet which has long hammered the NBC host for his failures as well as his habit of not asking follow-up questions. According to Poynter — which describes its mission as helping “journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers” — Todd’s “excellent interview skills and accessible delivery make him THE voice when it comes to news in these politically divided times.” Not everyone agreed with that...

A usual round of media self-criticism turned into a schoolyard brawl last week, as editors, reporters and bloggers traded insults over a front-page article in The Washington Post, all at the very online water cooler where they usually get their news about the industry. The Post article, which ran on Nov. 29, was about rumors of Barack Obama’s ties to the Muslim world. snip Then things got really ugly. On Dec. 10, Chris Daly, a Boston University journalism professor, posted an entry on his blog that turned the debate over the merits of the article’s reporting into a debate over...

The organization partnered with Facebook to help determine whether a certain story is “disputed” is financed by billionaire George Soros and a slew of other left-wing funders. The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) drafted a code of five principles for news websites to accept, and Facebook yesterday announced it will work with “third-party fact checking organizations” that are signatories to the code of principles. Facebook says that if the “fact checking organizations” determine that a certain story is fake, it will get flagged as disputed and, according to the Facebook announcement, “there will be a link to the corresponding article explaining...

On April 8, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi headlined a Boston conference on ''media reform.'' She was joined by four other congressmen, a senator, two FCC commissioners, a Nobel laureate and numerous liberal journalists. The 2,500-person event was sponsored by a group called Free Press, one of more than 180 different media-related organizations that receives money from liberal billionaire George Soros. Soros, who first made a name for himself in investing and currency trading, now makes his name in politics and policy. Since the 2004 election, the controversial financier has used his influence and billions to push a laundry list...

Filed at 10:02 p.m. ET TAMPA, Fla. (AP) --The St. Petersburg Times will pay more than $33 million over 12 years for the rights to rename a hockey rink for the newspaper, according to terms released Friday after questions were raised about the deal. The Tampa Bay Lighting hockey team and the Times initially decided to keep the terms of Tuesday's agreement private. Both said the arena would be the only major sporting venue in the country named after a newspaper. ``Like most business contracts of such scope it had a confidentiality clause,'' said Paul Tash, editor and president of...