Vox's Liz Plank runs into trouble defending the media's reporting of Jussie Smollett and 'MAGA country'

Vox’s Liz Plank while on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday when she blamed celebrities and activists for pushing the “MAGA country” aspect on the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

“The people who were repeating [MAGA country] were not news outlets,” she told Brian Stelter and the panel. “We can’t confuse celebrity tweets with the media”:

Vox's Liz Plank on "This is MAGA country" quote: "The people who were repeating that quote were not news outlets…It was repeated by, sure, people who maybe had good intentions of wanting to spread the story…We can't confuse celebrity tweets with the media and the press. pic.twitter.com/ayGHYmxYk8

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 17, 2019

It was quickly pointed out to here that the media did indeed report the “MAGA country” quote over and over and over again, amplifying it much more than any celebrity tweet could have. Some examples:

This claim by Liz Plank isn't true.

Here's CNN on Jan. 29, for example.https://t.co/ohB0cZ0Khwhttps://t.co/ArWUS34NfX pic.twitter.com/YXdmt7Vbeu

— Vince Coglianese (@TheDCVince) February 17, 2019

From The New York Times, Jan. 30:

"In a second interview with the police Tuesday, Smollett said that one of the men yelled, 'This is MAGA country,' referring to President Trump’s campaign slogan, 'Make America Great Again.'"https://t.co/apKepHSObO

— Vince Coglianese (@TheDCVince) February 17, 2019

Washington Post, Jan. 30:

"Smollett told detectives his attackers said 'something to the effect of "this is MAGA country,"' an apparent reference to President Trump’s enduring 'Make America Great Again' campaign slogan…"https://t.co/wDg99AkpVn

— Vince Coglianese (@TheDCVince) February 17, 2019

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And TMZ, which broke this story in the first place, included the "MAGA country" claim prominently from the beginning. https://t.co/mNdzlke8eG

— Vince Coglianese (@TheDCVince) February 17, 2019

And do you know who else amplified it? Well, look at this. Liz Plank herself did it:

Here are the three #JussieSmollett tweets that I can find that @feministabulous RT'd in the early days of the reporting on the incident: pic.twitter.com/PnwVFBh5xj

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) February 17, 2019

And:

Here's one she has since deleted. pic.twitter.com/2i6Nir55fH

— Currently between fraudulent suspensions (@jtLOL) February 17, 2019

Let’s also not forget that right after this story broke, there was criticism that the MSM who used “alleged” attack or “possible hate crime” were a “goose-step around the truth”:

So maybe one of the lessons we can start with is that describing reported crimes as “possible” or “alleged” is a sound journalistic and epistemological practice, not an attack on victims. https://t.co/EpFBP0IGyz pic.twitter.com/G7a9X5hnjW

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) February 17, 2019

Oh, and the Plank whitesplained hate-crime statistics to Kmele Foster:

And here is @kmele's exchange with @feministabulous on CNN's Reliable Sources about hate crime trends and statistics (@mattwelch @anthonylfisher @mcmoynihan) pic.twitter.com/sLP2zHSY6i

— Andrew Wimsatt (@ajwimsatt) February 17, 2019

Wait, so why isn’t this “whitesplaining”?

— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 17, 2019

because she’s liberal

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 17, 2019

Plan later tried to clean things up, but that backfired, too:

news outlets did not assign truth to his statement, they correctly reported it as a claim which is what journalism is. they reported it as being investigated which it was! the examples of reputable news outlets that you’re quoting in your tweet all reported a claim, not a fact.

— Liz Plank (@feministabulous) February 17, 2019

Yeah, no:

Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar https://t.co/Rwd2J8oIeF

— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) February 18, 2019

But that’s not what she said on air:

Problem here is that you said they didn’t repeat it—“I remember reading about this story and looking for a real reputable media outlet reporting on that. I could not find one. The people repeating that quote were not news outlets”—and now you’re saying they did and were right to.

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 18, 2019

Hey @feministabulous — here is what you said on @ReliableSources tho: “The ‘MAGA [Country]’ quote — I remember reading about this story & looking for a real reputable media outlet reporting on that & I could not find one. The people repeating that quote were not news outlets.” https://t.co/ukiqKvMzEz

— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) February 17, 2019

And besides, the media didn’t always use “alleged.” Some more examples:

I mean.. pic.twitter.com/9RaWQQPWqx

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 17, 2019

And:

Liz, where do you see the word "alleged" in any of these headlines from The Washington Post? pic.twitter.com/nJi8p60yV9

— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) February 18, 2019

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