Mainstream news reporters: If you can’t provide evidence for claims, then those claims are FALSE
Prove it: If you see a political claim being put forward without evidence – in the social or mainstream media – feel free to post this in response, so everyone knows.
It’s past time we put an end to un-evidenced claims from so-called news reporters who are politically biased.
Claims attributed to “a source” or “an official” have as much authority as claims attributed to Merlin, Darth Vader or Robin Hood and it’s time we stopped putting up with them.
The latest I’ve seen is from Robert Peston, who quotes an “official with access to internal figures” to claim the Labour Party has lost 150,000 members since its peak.
Who is this official? How do they have access to the figures? Has Mr Peston obtained – or even sought – corroboration of the claim?
We don’t know. So we must conclude that the official doesn’t exist and the claim is false.
Furthermore, we have access to information from a named official who we know has access to the figures – Labour general secretary Jennie Formby – and who says the claim is not true. She did it in response to recent claims in the Mail:
We see (or rather we DON'T see) your unnamed 'official' – and raise you the General Secretary of @UKLabour who says this is tripe – but then you knew that… https://t.co/EbRhPyxp2B
— The Prole Star (@TheProleStar) February 4, 2019
I’ve created a little banner (above) that you can use to highlight unevidenced claims when they appear in the mainstream or social media. Feel free to use it.
Let’s swing the spotlight to point out the fakers.
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cannot find the little banner
This issue was raised many yers ago and in many cases it was the source that required the anonimity not the journalist being coy. The danger is that if one was named against their wishes then a valuable source of correct information would be lost.
But without corroboration, that information means nothing.
Once a journalist has the claim from a source, it is their responsibility to seek confirmation of it. Trust me on this; I’ve been a reporter for a quarter of a century.
The number of party members is irrelevant, it’s the number of x’s on ballot papers that make the difference.