The Dangerous Anecdote
How competing narratives battle for power
One of the major services writers can provide in any society is to craft narratives, fictional and factual. Any newsstand or bookstore is crammed with both genres — novels and journals, stories that are made up and stories that purport to be real.
The problem with the real stories is they depend heavily on who is telling them, and the process used to gather the facts they cite.
That of course is what journalists do — we gather and report the facts as best we can. In that work, our honesty and integrity is vital.
Our methodology is designed, much like the scientific method, to eliminate non-factual elements so that we can support our narratives with solid documentation.
We strive for as much transparency as possible so that any reader can evaluate the accuracy of our work.
But while we are hard at work at doing these things, other narratives crafted by less scrupulous actors frequently enter the public square. These fictional narratives are pushed by special interests, often moneyed interests that have an agenda independent of any concern for what the truth of the matter might be.
And unfortunately these false narratives sometimes overwhelm the truth by sucking the oxygen out of the room, undermining democracy in the process.
Such is the situation in San Francisco, where the high-profile corrupt attempt to recall D.A. Chesa Boudin culminates with a special election in June. Wealthy, right-wing interests have falsely injected fictional narratives about rising crime rates into the debate over Boudin’s recall.
In fact, serious crimes are not rising and remain rare, particularly for a metropolitan area of that size. San Francisco is and has always has been a relatively safe city to move around in, unless you are a gang member or a drug dealer, the two groups most often both the victimizers and the victims of the violence that does occur.
In that context, today there is an excellent piece of journalism in The Bold Italic deconstructing a cheap hit-job against Boudin by a trashy sheet calling itself the San Francisco Standard. Although this all may seem as too “inside baseball” for non-journalists, I urge you to read it, both for the particulars but also as a cautionary tale of how misinformation drives political debate in too many instances.
Just read it and make your own judgement. It’s the top clip listed below.
Today’s News:
We Need to Talk About How Dangerous This Reported Piece on DA Chesa Boudin Is to San Francisco — The San Francisco Standard’s recent display of one-sided journalism is fuel for xenophobia and creates a lack of trust in hyperlocal news (The Bold Italic)
Looking at a number of polls on the recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, voters appear to lean toward voting “yes” on the recall.But how reliable is that data? An analysis of the polls in greater detail finds that the surveys with the highest percentage support for the recall were sponsored by pro-recall organizations. While they appear to have credible approaches to getting a representative sample of San Francisco voters and getting the mood of the city before Election Day, election results don’t always mirror the outcome of polls preceding voting. See the numbers. (SFC)
Biden says Finland and Sweden have 'full, total, complete backing' of US as they seek to join NATO (CNN)
Turkey to block Sweden, Finland NATO bids over 'home to terrorists' claims (Fox)
Moscow dismissing top commanders, UK says (CNBC)
Moscow said that 1,730 Ukrainian fighters had surrendered in Mariupol over three days, including 771 in the past 24 hours, claiming a surrender on a far bigger scale than Kyiv has acknowledged since ordering its garrison to stand down. (Reuters)
Russia Uses Surrender in Mariupol to Portray Ukrainians as Terrorists (NYT)
VIDEO: Deteriorating Conditions in Mariupol Raise Fears of Disease (Reuters)
Kharkiv's mayor says it's time to move out of the city's subway stations (NPR)
Can Ukraine Win? Five Scenarios for the War’s Next Phase (WSJ)
China in Talks With Russia to Buy Oil for Strategic Reserves (Bloomberg)
Russia claims it's using new laser weapons against Ukraine (Engadget)
In Ukraine, Gruesome Injuries and Not Enough Doctors to Treat Them (NYT)
In brutalized Bucha, a psychologist helps heal hidden wounds (WP)
Russia's laser weapon claim derided as propaganda (BBC)
Pro-war Russians are increasingly critical of the Ukraine conflict (WP)
Midterm Stakes Grow Clearer: Election Deniers Will Be on Many Ballots (NYT)
When Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate contest is finally decided, it will come down to a thing Republicans love to hate — mail-in voting, which is still being counted and could prove decisive for either Trump-backed Mehmet Oz or hedge fund billionaire David McCormick. The race was still too close to call, with Oz holding a slight lead. Donald Trump thinks he should declare victory anyway. Oz also had the support of Fox News host Sean Hannity. [HuffPost]
Trump taints Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary with fresh fraud lies (CNN)
Heavy falls in European and Asian stock markets followed Wall Street's worst day since mid-2020, as stark warnings from some of the world's biggest retailers underscored just how hard inflation is biting. A rare double-whammy has hit investors this year - steep slumps for both stocks and bonds. (Reuters)
A growing number of banks and economists, including the CEOs of Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, say we could be heading for a recession in the next year. (WP)
Militant attacks hurt Pakistan relations with Afghan Taliban (AP)
An Indian State Banned Alcohol. The Drinking Moved to Nearby Nepal. (NYT)
Top Biden health officials sound warning on rising covid infections (WP)
Haven’t had COVID yet? It could be more than just luck (The Conversation)
N. Korea won’t accept help to stave off coronavirus crisis, experts fear (WP)
Mozambique confirms first wild poliovirus case in 30 years (Guardian)
New Twitter policy aims to pierce fog of war misinformation (AP)
President Joe Biden is invoking the Defense Production Act to combat an ongoing shortage of baby formula, requiring companies to give supplies to formula manufacturers before any other customer. [HuffPost]
The migration patterns of endangered humpback whales have changed so much that they are now hanging around in San Francisco Bay. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Abortion-friendly states prep for more patients if Roe falls (AP)
The States Will Soon Be at Each Other’s Throats Over Abortion (Politico)
‘It’s Perfect Outside,’ Announces Sweating Woman Slowly Losing Consciousness In Middle Of Heatstroke (The Onion)
Today’s Lyrics:
“Bitter Sweet Symphony”
Song by The Verve
Songwriters: Keith Richards / Mick Jagger / Richard Ashcroft
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life
Tryna make ends meet, you're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
(Have you ever been down?)
Well, I've never prayed but tonight I'm on my knees, yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airwaves are clean and there's nobody singin' to me now
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
(Have you ever been down?)
I can't change, oh, no
I can't change, oh
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life
Tryna make ends meet, tryna find somebody then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah
You know I can change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no,
I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no
It's just sex and violence, melody and silence
It's just sex and violence, melody and silence
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Have you ever been down?
Have you ever been down?
Have you ever been down?
Excellent… I hope that feeling of home you and others have provided for decades will thrive and continue. the facts and the tone matter. Written in a way that encourages us to explore particular subjects of interest. A tone that trusts the readers. The tone of your writing speaks volumes.. thank you David Weir.