A number of left-leaning “news” publications and sites — including the Associated Press — have been reporting that the Federal Communications Commission shut down a pirate radio station that was supposedly the flagship for Infowars’ Alex Jones. It turns out, however, those stories weren’t exactly accurate and a number of those sites have since been forced to issue corrections.
Color us not surprised.
Jones, for those who haven’t been on the Internet the last few days, has found himself the primary target of far-left Silicon Valley tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. He’s also been banned from sites like Mailchimp.
Then came word that the FCC was shutting down his radio station in Texas. Naturally, the leftist media, known here as the “Democrat-media complex,” pushed the story, apparently without bothering to do a few minutes worth of research.
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As it turns out, the station had no connection with Jones. He didn’t own the station. He had nothing to do with the daily operations. And it certainly wasn’t his “flagship.” It was simply an unlicensed (pirate) radio station based in an Austin apartment complex that played his programs.
In reality, Adan Salazar noted, “Infowars does not operate any radio or TV stations.”
In their zeal to nail Jones, the “complex” pushed fake news — the very thing sites like Facebook accuse Jones of doing.
According to Infowars:
The Hill also changed their headline from “FCC shuts down Alex Jones’ flagship radio station,” to “CORRECTION: FCC targets pirate radio station that broadcasts Alex Jones,” and adding an editor’s note:
— Editors’ note: This story was updated at 3:20 p.m. Thursday to reflect that Liberty Radio is a pirate station that rebroadcasts Alex Jones’s programming.
The Hill tweeted out the false headline at least 10 times (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here), issuing only one tweet for the “CORRECTION” headline.
Washington Examiner changed their headline from, “Alex Jones Show’ facing lawsuit, FCC fine” to “Texas station that plays ‘Alex Jones Show’ facing lawsuit, FCC fine.”
HuffPost offered the following “clarification”:
Clarification: Language in this story has been amended to clarify that while the station was known in Austin for rebroadcasting Jones’ shows, it was not officially affiliated with him.
Vice’s Motherboard issued a “correction” and changed their headline:
Correction: The original headline for this story was “The FCC Shut Down Alex Jones’ ‘Flagship’ Pirate Radio Station.” The headline has been updated to clarify that Alex Jones does not own or operate the station. Motherboard regrets the error.
“UPDATED to clarify that Alex Jones is not involved in the station,” clarified Deadline.
Even Snopes, the bastion of truth for leftists and a verified fact-checker for Facebook and other tech giants, got it completely wrong.
The article further states:
“Claims that we are running an illegal radio station in Austin, Texas, are a complete and total hoax by mainstream, corporate media to imply to the world that our broadcast is somehow illegal.”
“We do not have a radio station. This is a giant hoax. There are thousands of “micro” radio stations across the country that we have nothing to do with, including the recently shut down station.”
We continue to ask other publications that falsely reported this fake news story, including but not limited to The New York Post and the Associated Press, to issue clarifications, retractions, or corrections in order to accurately reflect the situation, as The Austin-American Statesman, The Hill and others have already done.
The following statement was also issued:
H/T Wayne Dupree
Related:
- Video of the Day: Joe Scarborough calls for Secret Service to investigate Alex Jones
- The Orwellian un-personing of Alex Jones is just another reason ‘why Trump’
- Dem. Sen. Chris Murphy: ‘Survival of our democracy depends’ on censorship by big tech
- The Death of Free Speech: Video
- Goodbye free speech: California Dem. introduces measure requiring fact-checkers for all content — even email
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