DEAR JOURNALISTS: IF YOU DON’T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK OF YOU AS GARBAGE, STOP BEING GARBAGE. THANKS, BYE. WaPo’s Glenn Kessler Caught in Embarrassing Self-Own After RTing Dr. Critical of Trump’s Wuhan Virus Response. “As I’ve said before, when it comes to the so-called ‘fact checkers’ in the media, I find the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler hit or miss – but mostly miss. Over the last few weeks as the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to combat the Wuhan coronavirus, Kessler has engaged in a series of missteps (to put it charitably) when it comes to analyzing their efforts. . . . It would be nice going forward if Kessler would actually dissect claims before sharing them with his followers, which is what an actual fact-checker would do.”

The origins of “fact check” journalism explain why it doesn’t actually check facts. When the GOP discovered that negative ads were a way to end-run the Democrat-favoring media, the media responded with “fact checks” intended to neutralize those ads. It’s always been a partisan messaging gig, not about finding the truth in which, as Kessler keeps demonstrating, they’re not especially interested.