1. Friday, Jan. 8, 2021
The New York Times reporters Marc Santora, Megan Specia and Mike Baker report Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was killed by “pro-Trump supporters” who “overpowered” him and “struck him in the head with a fire extinguisher.”
But other reports the same day referenced Sicknick dying from a stroke.
The Times waited until mid-February to issue a correction, but still claimed– citing no evidence and no autopsy report– that Sicknick had died “from injuries in pro-Trump rampage.”
There was no explanation as to who fabricated the fire extinguisher story.
2. Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021
The Washington Post‘s Amy Gardner, AP, CNBC, Rolling Stone, and others falsely report that President Trump pressed a lead Georgia elections investigator to “find the fraud,” and told the investigator it would make them a national hero.
However, the actual recording of the call later made public revealed that Trump did not say either of those things.
3. Monday, Jan. 18, 2021
AP incorrectly reports that 200,000 small flags were placed on the National Mall to honor Americans killed by Covid-19.
But the flags represented people who couldn’t come to the inauguration, not COVID deaths.
4. Wednesday, March 31, 2021
The Atlanta Journal Constitution falsely reports that Georgia’s new voting integrity law would “limit voting hours.”
A later correction acknowledged “nothing in the law changes” the hours: 7am to 7pm. It also pointed out that “experts say the net effect was to expand the opportunities to vote for most Georgians, not limit them.”
5. Thursday, April 1, 2021
NPR corrects its book review by senior editor and correspondent on the Washington Desk Ron Elving that falsely claimed U.S. intelligence had discredited the story of the FBI obtaining and investigating material on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Read: Media Mistakes in the Trump Era: The Definitive List
Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson’s work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.
