No problem can be solved without being accurately diagnosed — whether it’s a medical condition, challenge at work, economic struggle or international conflict. That makes this time we’re living through especially exasperating to people who care deeply about the truth. Around us, powerful people and groups are being rewarded for lying. Listeners to my podcast “They Stand Corrected,” which fact checks the news, send in more examples than I can keep up with.
On Monday, Donald Trump will be sworn in for his second term as president. Through all my years of fact-checking politicians across the political spectrum, I’ve never seen anyone so mendacious. His capacity to shamelessly utter and spread extreme falsehoods, at an exhausting pace, has been cataloged and studied. One of his biggest lies, the false notion that the 2020 election was “stolen,” inspired the violent, antidemocratic insurrection on the Capitol four years ago.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
But lies are also plentiful on the far left. Antidemocratic movements have been spreading myths designed to obscure the growing global threat of Islamist terrorism, like the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans. Using the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacres in Israel as a jumping off point, self-declared “progressive” groups have been pushing all kinds of lies, like casting Iran-backed terrorists as “freedom fighters.” These groups have engaged in violence and celebrated terrorism. They’re egged on by lies from certain figures in Washington, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Where have big national media been on all this? Though some claim to be in the business of fact-checking Trump, they often let him lie with impunity in news conferences, debates and even town halls organized by news networks themselves. And when it comes to the lies of the left, these news organizations do an even worse job, regularly saying things that are demonstrably false. Trump supporters (just like the rest of us) have every right to be disgusted by media that call Trump a liar while preposterously treating Hamas — the Islamist terrorist group that has long been in charge of Gaza — as a trustworthy source of truth.
When Meta, parent company of Facebook, recently announced it would end its fact-checking operation, many news organizations were quick to warn that the move was dangerous and would pave the way for even more mis- and disinformation. The decision was widely and probably accurately seen as what The Associated Press called a “bow to Trump.”
Yes, Meta’s decision might bring dangers. But these news organizations are in no position to point fingers. Many of the false reports I correct on my podcast are posts these news agencies have put up on Meta’s platforms — Facebook and Instagram — with no one fact-checking them. It’s been a case of big media wanting “rules for thee but not for me.” For some of the worst examples of 2024, see the Media Fail Awards, in which listeners to my podcast voted for the biggest journalistic disasters.
Given all this, some people are surprised when I tell them I’m optimistic. But here’s why: Movements trigger countermovements. After Trump took office in 2016, #MeToo took off. (As part of my work for gender equality, I did events focused on the role of men in the movement, including one with founder Tarana Burke.) Men who had gotten away with horrific behaviors for decades were exposed.
Yes, the movement did not erase the problem. But it achieved progress. And the movement, like so many others, began and grew in the culture, among individuals — not in the halls of Washington.
Now we need a cultural countermovement for truth. It won’t come from the government or from big media. But it could come from individuals who demand that our society put truth first. I believe it can happen.
This year, Inauguration Day is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. When King received his Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he said, “I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners — all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty — and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.” (For the record, King was equally eloquent in his staunch support for Israel.)
Everyone who sees the beauty of truth can be part of this new movement. One that prizes accuracy, rather than claims that exacerbate biases. And one that tells those who have failed us for so long that they stand corrected.
Josh Levs, the host of They Stand Corrected, the podcast and newsletter fact-checking the media, is a frequent contributor to AJC Opinion. Find him at joshlevs.com.
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