Chicago City Wire

CBS News recklessly added to the panic over the coronavirus pandemic by failing to vet a video it promoted of a Chicago-based nurse crying – and lying it turns out – over the lack of a protective equipment at Northwestern Medicine, says public health expert and former journalist AnnMarie Schieber.

“Another example of publish first, verify later,” Schieber, a research fellow at the Heartland Institute, told Chicago City Wire. “And this from a national news organization that prided itself for many years on journalism integrity. The media has a responsibility. It’s not like Wikipedia where you crowd source editing.”

The online magazine, the Federalist, investigated the video posted by nurse Imaris Vera, who claimed she quit her job over the lack of protective equipment. The magazine found the claim to be “inaccurate.”

Coronavirus strain | Adobe Stock

“Instead of verifying the legitimacy of the video, CBS added background music and captions to highlight a woman who lied about her workplace situation,” the Federalist’s Chrissy Clark wrote.

The Federalist also reported that the CBS News version of the video, featuring dramatic music and on-screen graphics, “exploded online, accumulating over 8.3 million views on Twitter alone.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who dropped his presidential bid Wednesday, was one of the viewers and he shared the video with his 9.5 million followers.

“It is insane that our nurses are being forced to care for the sick without masks and respirators,” Sanders wrote on Twitter. “The Department of Labor must immediately issue emergency workplace standards to protect our health workers, their families, and their patients.”

At the same time, a story that received little national attention was of a Democratic state representative from Michigan crediting President Trump for saving her life. Sick with coronavirus, Karen Whitsett insisted her doctor prescribe hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by the president.  

“If President Trump had not talked about this, would it not be something that’s accessible for anyone to be able to get that right now,” Whitsett was quoted in The Western Journal as saying. 

A week ago Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, reversed course on a statewide crackdown on hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, another drug endorsed by the president.  She had banned the drugs in reaction to Trump’s support of them.

“I don’t know where Gov. JB Pritzker stands on these drugs but this is certainly embarrassing to Whitmer,” Schieber said.