{"id":1248727,"date":"2022-01-27T19:38:47","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T00:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1248727"},"modified":"2022-01-27T19:38:57","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T00:38:57","slug":"teachers-union-partners-with-left-wing-news-rating-system-to-push-in-home-censorship-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/teachers-union-partners-with-left-wing-news-rating-system-to-push-in-home-censorship-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Teachers&#039; Union Partners with Left-Wing News Rating System to Push In-Home Censorship Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fteachers-union-partners-with-left-wing-news-rating-system-to-push-in-home-censorship-tool%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1248727&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), led by union boss Randi Weingarten, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aft.org\/press-release\/aft-partners-newsguard-combat-misinformation-online\">announced<\/a> Tuesday it would partner with NewsGuard, a news rating tool the Media Research Center (MRC) found to \u201cheavily skew\u201d in favor of left-wing outlets.<\/p>\n<p>In this \u201cpathbreaking\u201d partnership, AFT announced that \u201ctens of millions of kids \u2026 and their families\u201d can receive the service\u2019s browser extension for free to put a \u201ctraffic light\u201d on certain sources deemed by NewsGuard to be \u201cmisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Misinformation&#8221; usually means true facts that undermine the left&#8217;s narrative.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TomCottonAR\/status\/1486511624399773696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 27, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Recently, MRC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbusters.org\/blogs\/free-speech\/joseph-vazquez\/2021\/12\/13\/study-newsguard-ratings-system-heavily-skews-favor-left\">conducted<\/a> a study on NewsGuard\u2019s tool, finding \u201cextraordinary left-wing bias\u201d in its rating system. In the study, MRC found the average rating for left and left-leaning sites \u2014&nbsp;like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/about-us-and-contact\/\"><em>Nation<\/em><\/a> or the&nbsp;openly <a href=\"https:\/\/jacobinmag.com\/about\">socialist<\/a> <em>Jacobin&nbsp;<\/em>\u2014 was 93 percent, whereas the average rating for right-leaning sites \u2014 including Fox News, the <em>Washington Times<\/em>, and Breitbart News was 66 percent.<\/p>\n<p>NewsGuard\u2019s average 27-point disparity means it considers left-wing outlets to have substantially more \u201ccredibility\u201d than conservative ones. But the AFT\u2019s plan to proliferate the tool among its 1.7 million teacher-members, as well as their students and their students\u2019 families to be used \u201cwhenever they search the web for news or information,\u201d appears to be an attempt at sneaking an in-home censorship service onto the computers of millions of Americans.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The browser extension would display in the search bar a green checkmark for \u201ccredible\u201d sites, a red exclamation point for sites that \u201cfail to meet the basic standards of credibility,\u201d a yellow smiley face for satire, or a gray \u201ci\u201d for platforms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years, educators have fought battles against suspect sourcing, with their students often misled by dubious outlets and spam sites posing as \u2018news,&#8217;\u201d the AFT press release states. \u201cAFT President Randi Weingarten hailed the deal as a game-changer for teachers and families drowning in an ocean of online dishonesty.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#8217;m really proud to announce that we&#8217;re partnering with Newsguard to combat misinformation. &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8grRRz1i9q\">https:\/\/t.co\/8grRRz1i9q<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rweingarten\/status\/1486129409991983105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Weingarten, who is also a powerful player behind keeping schools closed and keeping harmful virtual learning the norm, said of NewsGuard that \u201cit is a beacon of clarity to expose the dark depths of the internet and uplift those outlets committed to truth and honesty rather than falsehoods and fabrications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NewsGuard\u2019s \u201cbeacon of clarity,\u201d however, gives extremely favorable ratings to socialist propaganda sites and those that advocate political violence.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>MRC found that NewsGuard\u2019s rating of the Nation was 92.5 percent. A site that boasts an article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/activism\/blm-looting-protest-vandalism\/\">titled<\/a>, \u201cIn Defense of Destroying Property,\u201d students using the tool can now find reliable information justifying the violent riots across America over the summer of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven that capitalism largely restricts pleasure to the consumption of goods, we should be able to entertain the idea that this taking of unnecessary things\u2014while not a recognizably political act\u2014is understandable or even a justifiable,\u201d the article reads. \u201cThe image of the \u2018mom and pop\u2019 shop conflates property and people\u2014effectively presenting the destruction of property as a direct attack on an individual,\u201d it says, seemingly overlooking the destruction of small business owners\u2019 livelihoods.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe notion that nonviolence is tactically more effective\u2014that it elicits sympathy, whereas property destruction leads to acrimony and waning popular support\u2014has not only been proven wrong over the past week by&nbsp;sheer numbers,\u201d it continues.&nbsp;\u201cIt cannot be historically supported. <strong>For the police and overtly racist portions of the US population, the difference between nonviolent and (ostensibly) violent protest is of no consequence<\/strong>.\u201d [Emphasis added].<\/p>\n<p>Like the <em>Nation<\/em>,&nbsp;<i>Jacobin<\/i> has a 92.5 percent rating. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/jacobinmag.com\/2020\/04\/why-you-should-be-a-socialist-review-robinson\">review<\/a> of the book <em>Why You Should Be a Socialist<\/em>&nbsp;by Nathan Robinson \u2014 itself titled \u201cWhy You Should Be a Socialist \u2013 and a Marxist\u201d \u2014 the <em>Jacobin<\/em> writer says, \u201csocialism is back on the agenda in the United States, thank God. And today\u2019s newly minted socialists shouldn\u2019t be afraid to embrace Marxism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But even as the author outrightly promotes socialism, it is offensive to the <em>Jacobin<\/em> writer as it goes too far in criticizing Karl Marx: \u201cThe accusations include claims that Marx had \u2018authoritarian tendencies.\u2019 Where? When? Robinson doesn\u2019t say. Marxists have \u2018had too little regard for the importance of individual liberty.\u2019 This is certainly true for Stalinism, but it\u2019s <strong>hardly a fair picture of the rich democratic-socialist tradition inspired by&nbsp;Marx<\/strong>.\u201d [Emphasis added].<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The <em>Jacobin<\/em> writer apparently forgets about one of Marx\u2019s seminal requirements for achieving his utopia: the \u201cdictatorship of the proletariat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the other side, however, MRC found that the <em>Federalist<\/em> had the worst score among media outlets, clocking in at 12.5 percent using NewsGuard\u2019s tool. NewsGuard cited the fact that the <em>Federalist<\/em> questioned the efficacy of cloth masks in combatting the coronavirus. Even if that was the case, however, CNBC \u2014 which has a 95 percent NewsGuard rating \u2014 ran a story <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/10\/15\/are-cloth-masks-effective-for-covid-surgical-masks-vs-kn95-explained.html\">saying<\/a> cloth masks were only 37 percent effective.<\/p>\n<p>Another apparently reliable news source \u2014 clocking in at a NewsGuard 87.5 percent rating \u2014 is <em>Mother Jones<\/em>, one of a number of outlets that even Axios condemned as having <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/steele-dossier-discredited-media-corrections-buzzfeed-washington-post-6b762a0b-64a9-4259-8697-298e2f04fb3e.html\">committed<\/a> \u201cone of the most egregious journalistic errors in modern history,\u201d over its false reporting on the discredited Steele dossier that led to Donald Trump-Russia collusion lie in 2016. <em>Mother Jones<\/em> was also one of the outlets the FBI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/fbi-yahoo-mother-jones\">used<\/a> to corroborate the Steele dossier.<\/p>\n<p>When asked if he would correct the record, <em>Mother Jones<\/em> Washington Bureau Chief David Corn said, \u201cMy priority has been to deal with the much larger topic of Russia\u2019s undisputed attack and Trump\u2019s undisputed collaboration with Moscow\u2019s cover-up.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18641578\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1340300215.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18641578\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1340300215.png\" alt=\"American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten addresses a &#039;Let&#039;s Finish the Job for the People&#039; rally near the U.S. Capitol on September 14, 2021 in Washington, DC. Politicians and activists called on the U.S. Senate to fulfill their commitment to taking up voting rights and pass the For the People Act. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten addresses a \u2018Let\u2019s Finish the Job for the People\u2019 rally near the U.S. Capitol on September 14, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ironically, one of NewsGuard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsguardtech.com\/ratings\/rating-process-criteria\/\">criteria<\/a> for rating news outlets is if it \u201cregularly corrects or clarifies errors.\u201d Despite that, the NewsGuard tool gave <em>Mother Jones<\/em> a green checkmark on this criterion, according to the MRC study.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, BuzzFeed, which according to Axios maintains the Steele dossier online, scored a perfect 100 percent score from NewsGuard\u2019s tool. Other leftist news outlets that have a 100 percent rating are the <em>Atlantic<\/em>, the <em>New York Times<\/em>, the <em>Washington Post<\/em>, NBC News, <em>Politico<\/em>, the <em>New Yorker<\/em>, and <em>TIME<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<p>As MRC points out, HuffPost, which <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210228070720\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaryMargOlohan\/status\/1362094644000153601\/photo\/1\">released<\/a> the article, \u201cRush Limbaugh, Bigoted King of Talk Radio, Dies at 70,\u201d scored 87.5 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Only two outlets that \u201clean right\u201d received a 100 percent rating:&nbsp;<em>Deseret News<\/em>, an outlet MRC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbusters.org\/blogs\/nb\/rich-noyes\/2020\/09\/21\/tilt-deseret-newss-political-bias-2020-congressional-race\">found<\/a> to favor Democrats, and the libertarian <em>Reason<\/em> magazine. Anti-Trump, \u201clean right\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbusters.org\/blogs\/business\/joseph-vazquez\/2021\/10\/07\/anti-trump-outlet-calls-soros-funded-group-targeting\">outlet<\/a> the <em>Dispatch<\/em> received a 92.5 percent rating.<\/p>\n<p>But regardless of the intense bias of NewsGuard, Weingarten believes \u201cthis historic deal will not only help us steer clear of increasingly fetid waters\u2014it will provide a valuable lesson in media literacy and a discussion point for teachers in class on what can, and can\u2019t, be trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSadly, the foundational role of the fourth estate is in danger of being poisoned by torrents of trash,\u201d she continued. \u201cNewsGuard reminds us of the importance of an independent press that students can rely on to form their own views and opinions so they can participate as active citizens in our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MRC President Brent Bozell, however, believes this is another way the teachers\u2019 unions are attempting to indoctrinate children, saying, \u201cThe left has found a dangerous and equally disingenuous new way to indoctrinate our children, without their parents knowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNewsGuard is partnering with a national teacher\u2019s union to bring their biased ratings into classrooms nationwide,\u201d he continued. \u201cThis is as bad as CRT. In fact, it\u2019s worse. Like CRT, it is designed to push a leftist ideology on children, but unlike CRT, the left is not going to give it a name this time. This is purposely designed to go under the radar of public scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Breccan F. Thies<\/em>&nbsp;<em>is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter&nbsp;<a title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), led by union boss Randi Weingarten, announced Tuesday it would partner with NewsGuard, a news rating tool the Media Research Center (MRC) found to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1248727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}