CBS News posted this totally important, 100% real news article last night titled, “Half of Americans admit using swimming pool in lieu of shower”:
Half of Americans admit using swimming pool in lieu of shower https://t.co/WnP3nXhm7b pic.twitter.com/ufyiAyxpAU
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 15, 2019
And people quickly joked that the article must have been paid for by “big chlorine”:
Big Chlorine https://t.co/yLRmqOui2t
— Henry Williams (@digitalhen) May 16, 2019
Actually, the article was paid for by big chlorine. Here’s ProPublica reporter and Columbia Journalism School adjunct professor Jessica Huseman with a brutal thread taking apart what CBS News — and others — have done:
This survey was conducted online by a PR firm whose client is chlorine. https://t.co/twD6Fowzng
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
Their mission? “To improve chlorine’s brand nationwide”:
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
It’s not just CBS News she busted, but multiple “national news sites”:
Guys I’m not joking this is real and like seven national news sites wrote this story.
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
Huseman flagged parts of the article that made no sense, like this part on how “almost a quarter of Americans said they’d go in a swimming pool within an hour of having diarrhea,” hence the need for chlorine:
So I mean IDK about how this survey was conducted bc I can’t find the details online (red flag!) but does it seem real to you that one quarter of ppl would get the runs and then be like “now is a good time to be in s place inconvenient to a toilet while in wet, tight clothes.” pic.twitter.com/zZcu6E26TM
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
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She then called out reporters who wrote the press release up as fact for not doing any homework on who was behind it:
GUYS USE YOUR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS OR AT LEAST GOOGLE COME ON. pic.twitter.com/e5gG5SoMHq
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
This thread was full of typos but I did more reporting on this survey on my phone in 10 min at 2am than any of these reporters who got paid to write that. Ain’t nobody payin me for this.
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
Is there a class at journalism schools on clickbait?
I say this to my journalism students but y’all if the results of a poll seem weird or it seems as if its asking questions no one gives a shit about (like whether you shower in a pool) then CHANCES ARE it’s a crap poll or industry sponsored and you should ask better questions.
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
Because WHO exactly would pay for a poll on that? Not someone who wants to pay enough money to have an actual poll done with a proper sample and appropriately written questions. They just want to know how high of a number they can throw on pool poopers. Mk IM GOIN TA BED.
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
She did finally get the poll questions the article was based on, and it’s pretty ridiculous:
Through @NickNehamas I have received the actual questions for this "survey." Here is the question they asked to determine that people swim instead of showering: Have you ever in your entire life done the following three things? No other options. pic.twitter.com/h2NmePSemD
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
Of course people have rinsed off in a pool after exercise or yard work – you swim when you are hot. That's what pools are for. That is not swimming in a pool "in lieu of" showering, which this poll literally says only 23 percent of ppl have done.
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
And it’s pretty clear CBS News has an inaccurate headline:
So the headline – even if you buy this poll as fact – is factually inaccurate. Only 23 percent of people say they have done (maybe just one time, not even regularly) what this headline says half of people do.
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
It also looks like CBS News just rewrote the release for its article:
I mean, in fairness it's not even ok to call this "rewriting." CBS almost word for word just ran the press release this chemical trade group's PR firm sent out. First picture is the press release, second picture is the article. pic.twitter.com/0zEqWYjbUI
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 16, 2019
And that, kids, is how the real news is made.
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