Top 5 Fake News Reporters for the Week of 6/12-6/19
Florida’s Voice Presents Florida’s Top 5 Fake News Reporters of the Week: Every week, FLV will rank the worst reporters covering Florida politics. Our team, and readers, have noticed a stark uptick of fake news “journalists” that are consistently lying or misleading the public on Florida affairs in politics, ranging from Governor Ron DeSantis to COVID-19. In an effort to promote more journalistic integrity, these individuals will be cited for their attempts to mislead the public.
5. Angie Drobnic Holan | PolitiFact
Holan wrote an article about reporters being harassed by officials like Gov. Ron DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw. The article says press secretaries will publish emails from reporters and then “slam” the reporters as “incompetent.” The article claims press secretaries will “rally an online” mob to “attack” the reporters. Pushaw called out the article for calling it “harassment” to point out how a reporter’s email about her boss reveals incompetence and bias.
“But the same reporters can baselessly accuse my boss all day of much worse, with zero pushback and full support from their editors?” Pushaw said.
The Walt Disney Company reportedly announced it delayed moving about 2,000 high-paying jobs to Orlando from California. However, outlets including Fox News and Yahoo Finance posted headlines saying Disney delays moving 2,000 jobs to Florida “amid” the controversy with DeSantis over the Parental Rights in Education Act. While the delay is occurring amid the clash, a Disney spokesperson said the relocation did not have to do with the DeSantis dispute.
Fox News and Yahoo Finance waited until halfway through the story to clarify the reason for the delay.
3. A.G. Gancarski | Florida Politics
Florida Politics reported that DeSantis is weaponizing school boards after the Governor’s reelection campaign launched a new survey for school board races. First Lady Casey DeSantis condemned the news outlet for using the term “weaponize” to describe the Governor’s campaign. The DeSantis campaign encourages school board members and candidates to take a survey that will show them if they align with the Governor’s school policies.
2. Azmi Haroun & Charles R. Davis | Insider
The news outlet reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis is “dangerous.” The reporter cited a New York historian who claims new DeSantis-backed Florida laws that bans teachers from teaching K-3 graders about sexual orientation is “repressive.” However, the story does not include the Governor’s point of view where he and thousands of other parents do not believe young children should not be taught those inappropriate topics.
1. Michael Wilner | McClatchy DC
Wilner falsely reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis previously banned healthcare providers from ordering COVID vaccines for children between six months and 5 years of age, per the White House. DeSantis administration officials say this is completely false. Governor DeSantis said Florida would not pre-order the COVID vaccine for those young children, but private facilities could order them.
However, Wilner’s “false” story was picked up by news outlets across the country.
