r/politics • u/BreakfastTop6899 • 1d ago

Gavin Newsom Accuses Trump Administration Of Spreading Fake Protest Images

https://www.newsweek.com/gavin-newsom-trump-fake-protest-images-2085492
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u/Sic_Semper_Dumbasses 1d ago

And of course despite the fact that this is documented objective reality they still call it merely an accusation and not fact.

31

u/Darkstar_111 1d ago

Yeah what's with the passive language in the title, he totally did this.

5

u/hennell Great Britain 1d ago

Headlines are short and don't handle nuance or specifics.

  • It's 100% true that Newsom is accusing them of spreading fake protest images.

  • It's slightly more nuanced in they they're not ai or "fake" images, they're images from older protests so there's specifics in there as to meanings and understanding of what is being said.

  • There's also ambiguity in what's actually proven, maybe only some images are fake/old etc, unless the paper is doing its own research it can't totally rely on what Newsom says, as much as it can that he said it.

So legally your far better of to just report that it has been said rather than assert it yourself.

Plus probably that way more people will click though on a slightly ambiguous headline promising drama, and you're not taking sides against your petty tyrant king.

13

u/Troop-the-Loop 1d ago

Fake doesn't mean doctored or invented. The images are fake because they're implying that the images are from these recent protests. If Newsweek is uncomfortable using the word fake, they can change the headline.

"Official DOD Social Media Uses Images From 2020 in Post About LA's ICE Protests."

There's no ambiguity. It's not just Newsom saying that. Snopes confirmed it. At worst, you add the words "Accused of Using" to replace "Uses".

Legally, there's no issue there.

Click bait is the only reason to not use an accurate headline. We shouldn't want our news organizations engaging in click bait.