When a local news channel in Oklahoma ran a false story about gunshot victims getting turned away because so many locals had overdosed on ivermectin, it’s no wonder liberal partisans fell for it. It confirmed all of their biases.

But it’s hard to imagine why newsrooms fell for it and ran their story. A few critics have pointed out how basic reporting, making about two phone calls, would have undermined the whole story. Critics of the critics have said it was a simple error or sloppiness or the inevitable result of hollowed-out newsrooms, but it’s certainly not an example of media bias.