As you know, Democrats and their willing accomplices in the lib media have been going above-and-beyond the call in order to try and spread panic about supposed
One such example can be found in this Reuters photo that is presented without context:
United States Postal Service (USPS) mailboxes are seen stacked in an industrial lot in Hartford, Wisconsin. More photos of the day: https://t.co/EaGPKaJJAn ? @brian_photog pic.twitter.com/pVRRrFo4nu
— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) August 17, 2020
Gee, what dots do you suppose they wanted people to connect with that one?
OK so everyone has seen the "viral" photo going around of the piles of mailboxes in Wisconsin being used as evidence that Trump is sabotaging USPS. Problem is, they have been there for years: Hartford Finishing Inc. powder coats and refurbishes the old mailboxes. (1/8) pic.twitter.com/HQpAprWxoK
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
And with that started a thread on what actual “journalists” would want to do if they weren’t total hacks:
When I called up Hartford Finishing, Inc., a woman on the phone confirmed that they have a government contract for the mailbox refurbishing and that they "get them from all over and make them look good again" (2/8)
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
This is where I have to give some tough love to my friends at @reuterspictures. They sent a staff photog to these mailboxes. And then posted them to the wire labeling the site of the mailboxes as just an "industrial lot" when context is our entire job as journalists. (3/8) pic.twitter.com/FFTPODFXFR
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
Recommended
To find this location on Google, you have to search for "Hartford Finishing". It's a side road, not like you can spot the mailboxes from a highway. The sign for the business is 20 feet away from the mailboxes. To omit all this from the caption is journalistic malpractice. (4/8) pic.twitter.com/DIvUTj9urb
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
Let me be clear: the @reuterspictures photos are very good. And as stock art for "pile of mailboxes", it works. But @Reuters is one of the best news organizations in the world. And telling the full story and context is everything. This is an intentional omission. (5/8)
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
Especially since @Reuters is a wire service, other news orgs are going to use these pictures as evidence of Trump tampering with the USPS. When it's later revealed that it was just a place where mailboxes get refurbished, trust in news organizations is further eroded. (6/8)
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
Is having a photo go viral worth it if it's at the expense of journalistic integrity?? I think at the very least my friends at @reuterspictures should issue a caption correction for every single one of these frames, and alert editors that have used them out of context. (7/8)
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
For the non journalists out there: I get it, you're anxious about the election. And maybe there ARE shenanigans going on! But this is the wrong way to conduct journalism and why you don't run stories based on random info on social media without vetting the hell out of it. (8/8)
— Gary He (@garyhe) August 17, 2020
But unfortunately that’s the entire point of why some “news” outlets do that very thing.
An important thread on ethics, and not using images out of context… https://t.co/2KStqbqv0X
— Greg KB (@gregkb) August 17, 2020
Thank you, @GaryHe Journalistic integrity matters. https://t.co/sJySOUgpGi
— saleslove (@saleslove) August 17, 2020
WTF? You're telling me the same "journalists" that fell for the Russian Collusion conspiracy theory fell for ANOTHER conspiracy theory.
Color me shocked.
(I like the "locked mailbox in DC" conspiracy too)
This has been a fun day https://t.co/XVmbuasXzI
— Nick Flor-ProfessorF (@ProfessorF) August 17, 2020
So another one of the mailbox conspiracy theory spread over the weekend is debunked. These are news agencies who are putting out this disinformation. https://t.co/F60VOWisjI
— Joe Buck. (@JosephBuck321) August 17, 2020
And all the while where are the disinformation police the social media outlets claim to have on the job?
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