InfluenceWatch Podcast #204: An Education on Image

The American Federation of Teachers has a public image problem, as increasing numbers of parents become aware of the union’s involvement in prolonging destructive restrictions on schoolchildren in the name of “protecting” them from coronavirus—most notably school lockdowns, which despite widespread evidence that they did not control viral spread and harmed students’ educations possibly permanently continue in places like Flint, Michigan, and forced-masking orders.

But rather than enable children to resume their childhoods, Randi Weingarten’s union is challenging the union’s image problem with the classical trick: Control of the narratives put before children. The AFT formed a partnership with NewsGuard, a rating group that tracks the supposed trustworthiness of news outlets, to bring its rating tools into classrooms. And in news that shouldn’t surprise anyone, NewsGuard leans to the left. Joining me to discuss the troubling partnership and NewsGuard’s alignments is Dan Gainor, vice president for Free Speech America of the Media Research Center.

• InfluenceWatch: NewsGuard
• Media Research Center : NewsGuard Ratings System Heavily Skews in Favor of Left-Wing Outlets
• Media Research Center: Free Speech America CensorTrack