Sacramento Bee Falsely Accuses Charlie Kirk of Saying Trans People Should Be Lynched; Causes Riot at UC Davis
They didn't even check...
When yours truly went to journalism school they taught us about standards and checking facts. They taught us that nice people called line editors are supposed to double check those facts before something is published that can cause harm to the paper or others.
Today we wonder if anyone at the Sacramento Bee actually graduated from journalism school. The Bee accused Charlie Kirk, of the student organization Turning Point USA, of saying that trans people should be lynched. Charlie never said any such thing and frequently speaks against violence and for more dialogue.
Apparently, the Sacramento Bee heard this lie about Charlie on social media and never bothered to actually check. Using several tools every newspaper has available they could have could have verified this easily. They also could have reached out to Charlie for comment, which is also standard journalist procedure. You know, like actually checking sources like in this scene from All the President’s Men:
Nope! All standards are out the window when the partisan narrative is too juicy to check.
The UC Davis lead administrator created a video repeating the lie and the result was a riot at UC Davis complete with property damage and a police officer being injured.
UC Davis also had the resources to easily very Charlie’s innocence as well, but the chance to take a jab at free speech was just too tempting to bother with the facts. We hope Charlie can sue, but with the flawed state of today’s libel laws it may be near impossible.
Jesse Watters has details, including the video of what Charlie actually said:
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Fantastic as always, Chuck! Now we just need to get you a nice position with the 2024 staff!