Media, Fauci Acknowledge COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory After Dismissing It Initially
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The theory that the COVID-19 outbreak may have begun with a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China is gaining more credence in the U.S. and internationally after it was dismissed by some early on in the pandemic. Major news sources including CNN (Left bias), the New York Times (Lean Left) and PolitiFact (Lean Left) are among the sources who initially described the hypothesis as a debunked conspiracy, but have recently deemed it at least somewhat plausible amid emerging circumstantial evidence and growing calls to investigate it further. Conversely, many right-rated media sources have reported on the theory since the pandemic’s outset.
Left-rated voices often argued that because former President Donald Trump was advancing this theory alongside other purportedly false narratives at the start of the pandemic, it became lost in the mix and not vetted properly. Voices from the right often criticized that explanation, accusing left-rated media of groupthink and blatant anti-Trump bias; some also focused on mixed messaging from public officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
With Trump Out of White House, Media Suddenly Finds ‘Lab Leak Theory’ Plausible
Former President Donald Trump is known for a lot of things, but one of his special powers is his ability to make the entire corporate media act in concert to bring embarrassment upon themselves.
For nearly a year, almost every major news outlet declared that it was a debunked, fringe conspiracy theory to even discuss the idea that the coronavirus pandemic began as a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
It so happened that Trump was the most visible person pressing the case of the “lab leak theory,” which meant...
From the Left
Timeline: How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible
The source of the coronavirus that has left more than 3 million people dead around the world remains a mystery. But in recent months the idea that it emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) — once dismissed as a ridiculous conspiracy theory — has gained new credence.
How and why did this happen? For one, efforts to discover a natural source of the virus have failed. Second, early efforts to spotlight a lab leak often got mixed up with speculation that the virus was deliberately created as a bioweapon. That made it...
From the Center
Media face hard questions on Trump, Wuhan lab
The media face hard questions amid a growing acceptance that it is possible COVID-19 originated in a Chinese laboratory.
The idea was disparaged as a conspiracy theory by multiple outlets last year - almost surely because its loudest promoter was then-President Trump.
Now, as uncertainty grows, there are burgeoning suspicions that the media overstepped their mark.
For conservatives and some media critics, that's part of the larger issue of bias.
They argue, for example, that mainstream outlets have played down the severity of the crisis at the southwestern border under...
AllSides Picks
April 24th, 2024
April 24th, 2024
April 24th, 2024
More News about Media Bias from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
