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The “lab leak hypothesis” is one instance where NPR seems to have buried the most plausible explanation; there are many other similar examples.

by nickff 3y ago

subharmonicon 3y ago
Buried in what way? Googling “npr lab leak hypothesis” yields dozens of stories published on NPR sites reporting on that theory, primarily quoting WHO and US government reports. I wouldn’t call that burying. You might not like what their sources say and may think there are sources they ignored, but calling that burying without pointing out those omissions doesn’t seem reasonable. [edit: add a question mark]
- Alupis 3y ago
  Ah yes, the Good O' Memory Hole. Every story that shows in search results is something that dismisses the Lab Leak theory as being farcical and pushed by a Right-Wing Anti-China agenda. Yet... it was and still is the single most plausible theory - and today there's a lot of evidence to indicate it is more likely true than not. So yes, NPR did suppress the lab leak hypothesis, very successfully. There are many today that still hold it to be some sort of racist conjecture. As the parent mentioned - there's many other examples if we review the past few years major stories, including the Hunter Biden Laptop fiasco that, according to NPR and others seeking to suppress the story, was "certified Russian disinformation", etc.
  - feoren 3y ago
    > the Hunter Biden Laptop fiasco While I agree NPR was too quick to reject and smear the lab-leak hypothesis, it doesn't help your case to include the Hunter Biden Laptop hysteria that was fabricated whole-cloth and never had an ounce of substance to it.
    - Alupis 3y ago
      > the Hunter Biden Laptop hysteria that was fabricated whole-cloth and never had an ounce of substance to it. None of what you have said is even close to any resemblance of any sort of truth. I hope you will dig past the partisan reporting to educate yourself further on this particular political cover up.
mindslight 3y ago
Is it the job of responsible news media to report on hypotheses, as opposed to substantiating things with facts? The lab leak hypothesis was initially pushed in the mainstream as pure speculation in support of the do nothing President deflecting blame onto anyone else rather than accepting the responsibility of leadership. That echoes to this day. There is indeed a huge intellectual travesty around the topic, as well as most other matters about Covid, and blame for that is shared between both teams of partisans.
- Alupis 3y ago
  > Is it the job of responsible news media to report on hypotheses, as opposed to things able to be substantiated with facts? > do nothing President trying to deflect blame onto anyone else rather than accepting the responsibility of leadership This is some very interesting high-level spin you have going on here.
  - mindslight 3y ago
    What else would you call reflexively blaming China rather than acknowledging there is a problem? Even if China deliberately created and spread Covid, we still needed domestic leadership, not "it's just like the flu". I was still giving Trump the benefit of the doubt figuring he was going to come around to addressing reality by at least June, but nope. He essentially had been handed a shoe-in second term on a silver platter for being a crisis time President, but threw it away for what we can only guess.
    - Alupis 3y ago
      We can debate policy and what-not until we're both blue in the face. What facts there are clearly demonstrate the Trump Administration started the development and roll-out for mass vaccination. All of the shutdowns and other well-meaning-but-misguided "flatten the curve" plans became politically virtuous. In hindsight, almost all of these efforts were for not, and many caused more harm than good. Within all that noise - China most likely did have a lab leak from a lab that the US Government already knew was severely lacking safety precautions. Trump saying that out loud caused a knee-jerk reaction from his opponents and suddenly China was made to look like a victim of racism, etc. NPR and similar ran with that narrative and buried the most probable cause because it made Trump look like an incompetent racist moron - which is good for their agenda. Today, here we are, debating NPR propaganda like it was reality. So, I'd say it worked quite well...

The “lab leak hypothesis” is one instance where NPR seems to have buried the most plausible explanation; there are many other similar examples.

by nickff 3y ago

The “lab leak hypothesis” is one instance where NPR seems to have buried the most plausible explanation; there are many other similar examples.

subharmonicon 3y ago

Buried in what way? Googling “npr lab leak hypothesis” yields dozens of stories published on NPR sites reporting on that theory, primarily quoting WHO and US government reports. I wouldn’t call that burying. You might not like what their sources say and may think there are sources they ignored, but calling that burying without pointing out those omissions doesn’t seem reasonable. [edit: add a question mark]

Alupis 3y ago
Ah yes, the Good O' Memory Hole. Every story that shows in search results is something that dismisses the Lab Leak theory as being farcical and pushed by a Right-Wing Anti-China agenda. Yet... it was and still is the single most plausible theory - and today there's a lot of evidence to indicate it is more likely true than not. So yes, NPR did suppress the lab leak hypothesis, very successfully. There are many today that still hold it to be some sort of racist conjecture. As the parent mentioned - there's many other examples if we review the past few years major stories, including the Hunter Biden Laptop fiasco that, according to NPR and others seeking to suppress the story, was "certified Russian disinformation", etc.
- feoren 3y ago
  > the Hunter Biden Laptop fiasco While I agree NPR was too quick to reject and smear the lab-leak hypothesis, it doesn't help your case to include the Hunter Biden Laptop hysteria that was fabricated whole-cloth and never had an ounce of substance to it.
  - Alupis 3y ago
    > the Hunter Biden Laptop hysteria that was fabricated whole-cloth and never had an ounce of substance to it. None of what you have said is even close to any resemblance of any sort of truth. I hope you will dig past the partisan reporting to educate yourself further on this particular political cover up.

mindslight 3y ago

Is it the job of responsible news media to report on hypotheses, as opposed to substantiating things with facts? The lab leak hypothesis was initially pushed in the mainstream as pure speculation in support of the do nothing President deflecting blame onto anyone else rather than accepting the responsibility of leadership. That echoes to this day. There is indeed a huge intellectual travesty around the topic, as well as most other matters about Covid, and blame for that is shared between both teams of partisans.

Alupis 3y ago
> Is it the job of responsible news media to report on hypotheses, as opposed to things able to be substantiated with facts? > do nothing President trying to deflect blame onto anyone else rather than accepting the responsibility of leadership This is some very interesting high-level spin you have going on here.
- mindslight 3y ago
  What else would you call reflexively blaming China rather than acknowledging there is a problem? Even if China deliberately created and spread Covid, we still needed domestic leadership, not "it's just like the flu". I was still giving Trump the benefit of the doubt figuring he was going to come around to addressing reality by at least June, but nope. He essentially had been handed a shoe-in second term on a silver platter for being a crisis time President, but threw it away for what we can only guess.
  - Alupis 3y ago
    We can debate policy and what-not until we're both blue in the face. What facts there are clearly demonstrate the Trump Administration started the development and roll-out for mass vaccination. All of the shutdowns and other well-meaning-but-misguided "flatten the curve" plans became politically virtuous. In hindsight, almost all of these efforts were for not, and many caused more harm than good. Within all that noise - China most likely did have a lab leak from a lab that the US Government already knew was severely lacking safety precautions. Trump saying that out loud caused a knee-jerk reaction from his opponents and suddenly China was made to look like a victim of racism, etc. NPR and similar ran with that narrative and buried the most probable cause because it made Trump look like an incompetent racist moron - which is good for their agenda. Today, here we are, debating NPR propaganda like it was reality. So, I'd say it worked quite well...