“Fake News” Scourge Slate Runs Its Own Bit of Fake News

Slate–scourge of fake news!

At least when the supposedly fake news seems to favor president-elect Donald Trump and his supporters–then, says the reliably ultra-liberal Slate, we must do something about that awful fake news! Here's the finger-wagging Will Oremus of Slate, just a couple of weeks ago:

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election as president, Facebook has taken justifiable heat for its role in spreading misinformation and propaganda about the candidates. In particular, its news feed algorithm fueled a cottage industry of fake and intentionally misleading “news” that skewed heavily anti–Hillary Clinton and pro-Trump, according to a BuzzFeed analysis.

But how about when some fake news might make a useful stick for beating Trump over the head? Then, it seems that Slate isn't averse to getting into the fake-news business itself.

As in this Dec. 7 Slate hit job on Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway and her decision, announced at a Politico-sponsored meeting, that as the mother of four young children, she would not accept a full-time staff position at the Trump White House.

Slate, like most good liberals, hates the idea of stay-at-home motherhood. so this gave Slate writer Suzanne Monyak a chance to deliver a stern lecture to Conway:

The problem with Conway’s comments is not that she values her family or spending time with her young children. It’s that she seems to believe that it is the onus of the woman in a family to sacrifice her career opportunities so that her husband may have his. Even more troubling, Conway implies that no good mother should take on such a job—an attitude that feels ripped out of Mad Men.

The headline to Monyak's piece read: “Kellyanne Conway Suggests That Women With Kids Shouldn’t Take Jobs in the White House.”

Except that wasn't what Conway said.

The first to call out Slate was CNN host Jake Tapper, a liberal but a generally trustworthy one. According to Mediaite, Tapper tweeted:

2 women I know who attended this event say this headline/piece are ridiculous and false and say it totally twists what Conway said.

Mediaite writer Alex Griswold  pointed out:

Reading the actual story, Tapper and his sources appears to have a point. Here’s the quote from Conway that inspired the story, from a Politico story on the event:

During her earlier conversation, Conway said she intends to remain connected to Trump once he takes office but implied that it would be nearly impossible for her to take on an official White House role and be a mother to her four children, all of which are younger than 12, at the same time

“I do politely mention to them the question isn’t would you take the job, the male sitting across from me who’s going to take a big job in the White House. The question is would you want your wife to,” Conway said, describing conversations she’s had with male colleagues. “Would you want the mother of your children to? You really see their entire visage change. It’s like, oh, no, they wouldn’t want their wife to take that job.”

In context, it appears Conway was saying that the men she spoke to said they wouldn’t want their wives taking a White House job, and that she might not take a job because of her children. She certainly never implied that all women with children should not have role in the White House, as Slate’s headline states.

An apparently embarassed Slate rewrote its headline on Dec. 8 to read "Kellyanne Conway Suggests Men Don't Want Their Wives to Work in the White House." But it didn't seem to do much to trim Monyak's blast of birdshot at Conway: