In today's @nytimes, Aaron Sorkin blasts Mark Zuckerberg for not fact-checking political ads.
Ironically, it seems no one fact-checked Sorkin's own column, which falsely claims that half of Americans say Facebook is their main source of news. nytimes.com/2019/10/31/opi…
Ironically, it seems no one fact-checked Sorkin's own column, which falsely claims that half of Americans say Facebook is their main source of news. nytimes.com/2019/10/31/opi…
@nytimes Data from @pewresearch consistently shows that a plurality of Americans get news most often from television, with about one in five turning to social media for news on a regular basis. pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018…
@nytimes @pewresearch I've written in the past about this particular bit of misinformation, where it came from, and why it persists. I suspect the deeper reason people keep citing it is the same reason misinformation flourishes on Facebook: It supports their preconceptions. slate.com/technology/201…
@nytimes @pewresearch To be clear, it is quite possible that more Americans are relying on Facebook as their main news source without realizing it. But Sorkin's claim was that 50% *say* Facebook is their main news source, which is just not true.
@nytimes @pewresearch I'll be curious to see if @nytopinion either explains where Sorkin's data is coming from or adds a second correction to his story, which also apparently misstated the year his own movie was released.
@nytimes @pewresearch @nytopinion Or a third correction! It's almost like checking facts isn't a strength of Facebook's *or* Aaron Sorkin's.
@nytimes @pewresearch @nytopinion Update: The @nytimes has now corrected all three of the Aaron Sorkin factual errors noted in this thread. Good for them.
