Rupert Murdoch Called Trump's Stolen-Election Fantasy 'Really Crazy Stuff.' Fox News Promoted It Anyway.
Hosts and producers privately called Trump lawyer Sidney Powell's claims "complete bs," "insane," and "unbelievably offensive."
Journalism
'Patient Zero' Is Not Hate Speech
Reason talks with the transgender historian who used the term to describe a revolutionary gender-affirming treatment for teens.
980 New York Times Contributors Want To Sacrifice Free Inquiry to Ideology
In an open letter, they condemned the paper's coverage of trans issues. But their note is more about what questions journalists are not allowed to ask.
The Perils of Trying To Curtail Hazily Defined 'Disinformation'
A government-supported organization's controversial ratings of online news sources illustrate the challenge of deciding what qualifies as disinformation.
U.S. State Department Funds a Disinformation Index That Warns Advertisers To Avoid Reason
Reason is listed among the "ten riskiest online news outlets" by a government-funded disinfo tracker.
Getting Trump Was More Important to Some Journalists Than Getting the Story Right
The botched pursuit of the Russiagate story illustrates how the media shed credibility.
That Time We Tried To Make Sense of a Statistic in a New York Times Story on Deepfakes
Deepfakes aren't nearly as dangerous as the tried-and-true technique of saying something misleading with the imprimatur of authority.
She Was Jailed for Basic Journalism. A Federal Court Isn't Sure if That's Unconstitutional.
Priscilla Villarreal's case will be heard again tomorrow at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. She has attracted some unlikely supporters.
ChatGPT Isn't Coming for Your Job (Yet)
Content-generating A.I. will probably enhance human labor rather than make it obsolete.
60 Minutes Promotes Paul Ehrlich's Failed Doomsaying One More Time
The Population Bomber has never been right, but is never in doubt that the world is coming to its end.
Why Take Responsibility When You Can Blame Somebody Else?
The year’s highlights in buck passing feature petulant politicians, brazen bureaucrats, careless cops, loony lawyers, and junky journalists.
A New Federal Press Shield Bill Falters Just Before the Finish Line in Congress
A law to protect people engaged in journalism from having to reveal sources gets blocked by Sen. Tom Cotton.
Martin Morse Wooster's Front Row Seat
RIP to a prolific and colorful Reason contributor and author.
Elon Musk Kicks Tech Journalists, Mastodon Off Twitter
Plus: Sen. Mike Lee wants to remove First Amendment protections for porn, IRS doxxes taxpayers, and more...
Don't Let Police, Media Mislead You About Fentanyl Exposure Overdoses
Another officer claims to have been laid out just by being close to the drug. That’s not how it works.
Cronyist Journalism Measure Could Prompt Facebook To Ban News
Plus: ACLU sides against religious freedom, abortions after Dobbs, and more...
Your Donations Make Reason an Island of Stability in a Turbulent Sea of Media
Ain't it grand to have a resilient libertarian journal of opinion?
What Was Your Favorite Reason Video of 2022? And How Can You Get More of Them?
Your tax-deductible support for us will go twice as far thanks to an amazing $100,000 match grant right now!
'Real' Journalists Recognize That Prosecuting Julian Assange Poses a Grave Threat to Freedom of the Press
The Justice Department’s discretion is the only thing that protects them from a similar fate.
Donate Today To Kick Off Reason's Annual Webathon
Your support makes our journalism possible. This week it also gets you some cool swag.
Did Sam Bankman-Fried's Millions Buy the Media's Loyalty?
The mainstream coverage of SBF and FTX is more than a little blasé.
U.S. Voters Are 'Vulnerable' to 'Foreign Manipulation,' No Matter How Inept, The New York Times Warns
Journalists who sound the alarm about Russian propaganda are unfazed by the lack of evidence that it has a meaningful impact.
This Court Case Could Make It a Crime To Be a Journalist in Texas
Priscilla Villarreal found herself in a jail cell for publishing two routine stories. A federal court still can't decide what to do about that.
Undeterred by Pushback, Cops and Journalists Are Still Warning Parents About THC-Laced Halloween Candy
The unsubstantiated threat that strangers with cannabis candy allegedly pose to trick-or-treaters is an urban legend that never dies.
U.S. Headlines Expressing Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Sadness Increased Hugely Since 2000
Meanwhile more and more Americans say that they are avoiding news coverage.
'Pro-Democracy' Journalism's Problem With the Facts
Influential media critic Margaret Sullivan demonstrates the perils of letting narrative get ahead of verification.
Undeterred by Past Failures, the Press Goes All in on 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Panic
Even though no one's trying to give your kid rainbow fentanyl this Halloween, it hasn't stopped journalists from repeating the myth.
Elon Musk Buying Twitter Is Not the End of the World
Regular people are not so terminally online.
L.A. Times Investigates California's Marijuana Legalization Disaster
An emphasis on corruption and enforcement downplays the very real influence of regulation and taxes on California's booming black market.
What Happens When Reporters Are Barred From the Story
Their articles do not, in fact, get more accurate.
Las Vegas Elected Official Robert Telles Arrested as Suspect in Journalist Jeff German's Death
Plus: The wage premium from having a college degree is falling, study finds black access to firearms reduced lynchings during Jim Crow, and more...
Klobuchar's Media Bill Won't Save the Press
It'll just lend a hand to the outlets the senator prefers.
The Babylon Bee's Kyle Mann: 'I'm No More Deserving of God's Grace Than a Transgender Person Is'
The Christian satire site's editor on defying Twitter bans, flaying Gen Z's super-thin skin, and being funny while pious.
Babylon Bee Won't Back Down Over Trans Joke Twitter Ban
Kyle Mann, the Christian satire site's editor, also talks Biden vs. Trump, and why he saves his deepest burns for mega-pastors like Joel Osteen.
The Party of Trump Rages On
Plus: The editors examine proposed CDC reorganization and field a question on free trade.
Proposed Bill Would Protect Journalists Like Julian Assange From Espionage Charges
A senator and two congressmen team up to help protect whistleblowers from vindictive prosecution.
Glenn Greenwald on Tucker Carlson, Chelsea Manning, Russia, and Big Tech
"The kind of values I've always embraced are heard more on Fox than on CNN and MSNBC, where they're not welcome."
50 Years Later, the Motive Behind Watergate Remains Clouded
Despite the abundance of transcripts, FBI reports, and memoirs from those involved, we still know more about the cover-up than we do about the infamous political scandal.
How a Baseball Non-Fight Illustrates Our Weird Journalistic Discourse on Racism
White player suspended for calling black player "Jackie"; many journalists conclude that the player (and Yankees fans!) are racist.
NPR Tries To Cancel Stoner Metal Legend Matt Pike
An exhaustive profile of the Sleep and High on Fire frontman focuses almost entirely on his "dangerous" affinity for David Icke's lizard people conspiracy theories.
Reason Is a Finalist for 8 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominated stories cover minor league baseball, drug tests, and L.A.’s plan for ending homelessness
New York Times Columnist Gail Collins Proposes a 'Simple Battle' To 'Get Rid of the Guns'
It's not clear which guns she is talking about, and even Collins does not seem to know.
American Journalism's Most Successful Politician To Step Down From Running The New York Times
Dean Baquet played a leading role in two of modern journalism's turns for the worse.
The Northman Is a Bloody, Brutal, Brilliant Viking Revenge Epic
No moral judgment, just Viking honor, pagan ritual, and inevitable death.
Gatekeepers Very Afraid That Elon Musk Will Remove the Gates From Twitter
$43 billion takeover bid reveals knowledge-class anxieties over free expression
Are Newsletters the Future of Free Speech?
Substack's Hamish McKenzie on censorship, discourse, and Joe Rogan.
The New York Times Belatedly Admits the Emails on Hunter Biden's Abandoned Laptop Are Real and Newsworthy
A year and a half after the New York Post broke the story, the Times says it has "authenticated" the messages it previously deemed suspect.