In order for fake news to flourish, two important components must almost always exist: 1) The news outlet spewing the propaganda is considered credible by a respectable portion of the population; and 2) The fake news, no matter how false, must have an aura of believability.
Not exactly high journalistic standards; but then again, fake news is the byproduct of a corrupt and highly partisan media and a public willing to swallow lies if the falsehoods validate their preconceived notions and nourish their built in animosity.
Here’s a good example of precisely how fake news is born and metastasizes. Kimba Woods, Senior Judge of the U.S. District Court, New York Southern District is presiding over the court case of Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer whose office, home, and hotel room were raided by the FBI at the behest of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Fake news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, are quick to remind their viewers and readers that Kimba Woods was appointed by President Reagan so it will appear that she is a Republican jurist and therefore would never do anything partisan such as release the name of Cohen’s alleged client Fox News host Sean Hannity. The assumption is that a “Republican judge” would bend over backwards for Trump’s attorney and Fox News.
What the architects of fake new don’t tell you in their coverage of this case is that there is very solid evidence that Judge Woods is not a conservative or a Republican and she overturned her own initial ruling to stay the release of Hannity’s name until the attorney for the New York Times and CNN convinced her otherwise.
While it is true that Judge Wood was initially appointed to the New York District Court by President Reagan, that was many years ago and Kimba Woods’ rulings indicate that she is not a conservative. Further refutation of her Republican credentials, is that she was once considered by then President Bill Clinton to be his Attorney General in the 1990s.
It is well established that the person assigned to find liberals for the judicial and legal team (preferably far left judges such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg) in the Clinton White House was Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton compiled a list of liberal extremists and gave definite preference points to women. Kimba Woods became the frontrunner to become President Clinton’s A.G. after Zoe Baird, another liberal female barrister, had her nomination yanked when it was exposed that she had hired an illegal alien as domestic help and had not reported the arrangement to the IRS. Woods name was later pulled back as well when it was learned that she too had hired an illegal alien as a nanny. However, in the case of Judge Wood, she did pay taxes on her employee, and it was not yet against the law to hire illegal aliens. Still, the Clintons couldn’t take more “Nanny-gate” heat so they dropped her for A.G. consideration. Eventually, they hired the liberal Democrat Janet Reno who was single and childless.
So that is how fake new works. Assume few folks remember Kimba Wood from the Clinton era, imply that she is a conservative because she was appointed to the bench by President Reagan, neglect to connect any dots to the Clintons, and fail to report that the Judge who had decided to stay the release of Hannity’s name to the media changed her mind when requested by none other than a lawyer for the New York Times and CNN, king pins in the Fake News industry.
Add to this scenario, that there is no evidence that Michael Cohen ever was retained or paid by Sean Hannity as his lawyer. Hannity concedes that he once conferred with Mr. Cohen on a matter completely unrelated to anything to do with President Trump, but he never hired him as legal counsel.
And that folks is the anatomy of Fake News.
Jayne Carroll hosted a daily talk show in afternoon drive time in the Portland, Oregon metro area for more than 20 years. She wrote a popular conservative newspaper column for over a decade. Her live shows and podcasts can now be heard at TheJayneCarrollShow.com in addition to her political commentary, “Jayne Says“. She and her Producer Jeremy can be contacted here.