Parker Molloy

Parker Molloy is a Chicago-based writer.

Aug. 4, 2020

Media Matters for America

PolitiFact’s “Trump-O-Meter” is an embarrassing encapsulation of the problem with modern media

On Monday, fact-checking organization PolitiFact tweeted a link to one of the entries in its “Trump-O-Meter” campaign-promise tracker. In doing so, the organization highlighted a longstanding problem with its own work. PolitiFact tweeted: “As a…

Aug. 3, 2020

Media Matters for America

After riding Ebola fears to victory in 2014, right-wing media are playing politics with the 2020 pandemic

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but the way pro-Trump media have covered the ongoing coronavirus pandemic stands in pretty stark contrast to how those same outlets covered Obama-era scares such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Ebola was a major…

Jul. 27, 2020

Media Matters for America

Journalists have been obsessing over Trump supposedly changing his “tone” for five years

It’s been more than five years since Donald Trump rode down the golden escalator of his eponymous New York City tower to a crowd containing actors paid to cheer for him. There, he announced his campaign for president. As months passed, it became…

Jul. 22, 2020

Media Matters for America

Mainstream news outlets keep running stories about performative GOP opposition to Trump

In June 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss Republicans’ imminent nomination of then-candidate Donald Trump. There, he sought to calm the nerves of Trump-skeptical members of his party. “I do…

Jul. 10, 2020

Media Matters for America

QAnon may be coming to Congress, and journalists need to be ready

“Gun-toting” restaurateur Lauren Boebert came out ahead of incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton in the Republican primary for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. She was described as a “guns rights activist” by Twitter, USA Today’s headline read, “5-term…

Jul. 7, 2020

Media Matters for America

Facebook has repeatedly caved to bogus right-wing pressure

Facebook executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg met with leaders of the Stop Hate For Profit campaign today. Following the meeting, members of the campaign were clear that Facebook offered “the same old talking points” and intended to take…

Jul. 1, 2020

Media Matters for America

The right-wing playbook against supposed liberal media bias is being used on tech giants with alarming effectiveness

On Sunday, The Washington Post reported how President Donald Trump and Republicans have used baseless charges of anti-conservative bias to create an increasingly conservative-friendly environment at Facebook. Nothing about the Post’s reporting is…

Jun. 22, 2020

Media Matters for America

Stories about TikTok teens taking down Trump ignore simpler explanations for his low turnout in Tulsa

Think TikTok teens tanked Trump’s Tulsa turnout? That’s a theory being reported by outlets like CNN, The Guardian, and NBC News. In the run-up to President Donald Trump’s most recent rally, K-pop fans and teens on video-based social media site TikTok…

Jun. 18, 2020

Media Matters for America

The Federalist threw itself a pity party over a warning from Google, baselessly complaining about anti-conservative tech bias

Conservative media outlets are mad about censorship again. This time it’s Google that has earned their ire. On Tuesday, NBC reported that Google had banned right-wing conspiracy theory site ZeroHedge from its ad platform and issued a warning to…

Jun. 17, 2020

Media Matters for America

The myth of an objective press benefits the powerful at the expense of the people

On Sunday, Fox News’ MediaBuzz opened with host Howard Kurtz warning of “a serious threat to journalism.” A debacle that began with a New York Times op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and ended with the resignation of Times opinion editor James Bennet…

Jun. 5, 2020

Media Matters for America

QAnon followers melt down after K-Pop fans take over their hashtags

Online trolls and far-right conspiracy theorists learned a valuable lesson this week: Do not upset Korean pop music superfans. On Sunday, K-pop stan Twitter rallied in support of the Black Lives Matter movement by spamming a request from the Dallas…

Jun. 5, 2020

Media Matters for America

The New York Times is incapable of meeting the moment

This hasn’t been a great week for The New York Times. With just months to go until the presidential election and amid what can only be described as an utterly chaotic year so far, there’s reason to believe the Times is not up to the task of covering…

May. 28, 2020

Media Matters for America

Mark Zuckerberg is a hypocrite and a Trumpist

Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t think social media companies should be arbiters of truth. He’s full of shit. In an interview with Fox News anchor Dana Perino, the Facebook founder and CEO chided Twitter for its decision to add a fact check to one of…

May. 26, 2020

Media Matters for America

An ABC correspondent's Biden mask tweet shows how mainstream media get played by the right-wing

“This might help explain why Trump doesn’t like to wear a mask in public. Biden today,” tweeted Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume. Attached to Hume’s tweet was a photo of presidential candidate Joe Biden earlier that day at a wreath-laying…

May. 21, 2020

Media Matters for America

What's behind the rise of “COVID contrarian” Alex Berenson in right-wing media?

In the world of conservative media, author Alex Berenson is a star. Thanks in large part to his relentless Twitter criticism of how mainstream media and Democratic politicians have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, Berenson now regularly appears as…

May. 14, 2020

Media Matters for America

Sheriffs, salon owners, and Fox News’ desperate attempt to turn the pandemic into the latest culture war battle

Right-wing media personalities have long struggled to find a conservative hero in their culture war, someone to serve as an ideological martyr for their cause -- and they’ve made some pretty ridiculous attempts to force it along the way. Gun owners?…

May. 11, 2020

Media Matters for America

While a pandemic rages, political journalists are still grading Trump on a curve

For all the focus on the need to “flatten the curve” of new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, there’s another curve that needs dealing with: the one President Donald Trump’s being graded on. Trump has been president for more than 1,200 days,…

May. 3, 2020

Media Matters for America

YouTube remains a haven for COVID-19 misinformation despite tightened guidelines

In a March 6 blog post, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai laid out the company’s plans for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among Pichai’s announcements was a commitment to removing YouTube videos containing misinformation about preventing…

Apr. 22, 2020

Media Matters for America

NPR promoted right-wing talking points about government support in an unevenly reported story about a coffee shop’s closure

It’s no surprise that Fox News and other conservative media outlets think that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) is too generous to unemployed Americans. For decades, conservatives have argued that various programs --…

Apr. 17, 2020

Media Matters for America

Trump has botched the pandemic response -- no matter how much Fox News tries to talk up the China travel restrictions

On March 5, President Donald Trump said that his decision to implement travel restrictions on people entering the U.S. “saved a lot of lives.” On March 17, he adjusted that claim to “a tremendous number of lives.” A week later, he got more specific,…