Headline RoundupSeptember 9th, 2021

Perspectives: Media Bias and Ivermectin Misinformation

Summary from the AllSides News Team

A viral story about Oklahoma hospitals overflowing with people who'd overdosed on horse dewormer turned out to be misleading, but not until several major news sources had elevated the misinformation. The claim that emergency rooms were backed up with overdosing patients, which originally came from a rural Oklahoma doctor, has since been disputed by one Oklahoma hospital and has not been confirmed or supported by any other source. Rolling Stone (Left bias), MSNBC (Left)The Guardian (Lean Left) and Newsweek (Center) were among the major mainstream outlets to report the misleading story, with Rolling Stone adding a lengthy update at the top of its original article. 

Voices across the spectrum, particularly on the right but also elsewhere, criticized mainstream media's handling of the story and of COVID-19 stories in general. Some voices speculated that because the source's account likely confirmed journalists' preconceived notions about rural Americans' attitudes toward COVID-19, they didn't spend as much time vetting the claims. 

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