The top 5 worst journalism moments of 2018

In June 2018, President Trump implemented policies that resulted in illegal immigrant parents being separated from their children, sometimes for lengthy periods. The practice in itself deserves plenty of criticism. But the media somehow bungled their coverage of it.

On social media, reporters and liberal activists shared photos of children in detention centers, cooped up in cages, lying on the floor without their parents in sight. They were heart-wrenching photos.

The problem? They were from 2014 when Obama was president.

4. Defending MS-13

In May 2018, countless stories were written focusing on Trump calling all immigrants “animals.”

The problem: Trump used the word “animals” specifically describing the international criminal gang, MS-13.

This fact then put Trump’s critics in politics and the press in the position of defending MS-13, a gang that gained notoriety for murder, drug and human trafficking, and prostitution (and even child prostitution).

Look, Trump calling all undocumented immigrants “animals” didn’t happen, and the fact that he got his critics to essentially defend MS-13 in the process is nothing short of unreal.

3. Fire and Fury

In January 2018, author Michael Wolff published Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, a book that only can be characterized as fiction. But if you’re a Trump critic, it was taken as the gospel truth.

While some parts of the book have been corroborated by media and White House sources, many parts are obvious falsehoods.

2. 18 school shootings

In February 2018, a horrific shooting took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen people were killed and 17 others were injured. And through the seriousness of it all, some in the media attempted to use this tragedy as a justification for gun control.

Political analyst Jeff Greenfield’s tweet was one of many viral tweets purporting that there were 18 school shootings in the first seven weeks of 2018. Publications like Politico, TIME, CNBC, New York Daily News, and HuffPost reported the same number of shootings.

But that number was significantly inflated. Of the 18 incidents, only two of them were cases of someone deliberately shooting people at a school, the shootings in Benton, Ky., and Parkland, Fla. The rest were either isolated incidents, nonschool related, or accidents.

1. Brett Kavanaugh

The media’s worst moment came during their reporting on the sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. In an effort to paint Kavanaugh as a violent sexual predator and a lying alcoholic, publications like the New York Times, New Yorker, and NBC News set an already high bar on journalism malpractice.

The allegations that surfaced alleging that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford were serious and easily the most credible of all the allegations. However, after an FBI investigation and a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, her story could not be corroborated. In the cases of Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, the allegations didn’t pass the smell test. Yet, many in the media reported on each individual case as evidence that Kavanaugh did not deserve to serve on the Supreme Court.

Yes, journalists make mistakes all the time. But this reeked of a demonstrated willingness by some in the media to trade in their tattered reputation for a political victory.