If you've been following the local news reporting from KHOU on the shooting at a Texas high school, you know that there are several false rumors and bad facts floating around social media.
One thing KHOU pointedly made viewers aware of is that a statistic claiming that there have been 18 school shootings in 2018 is not accurate.
“That’s a big scary number, but that is not eighteen situations like what you’ve been watching on TV this morning,” KHOU reporter Tiffany Craig said. “That includes a variety of things, shootings around schools, even suicides. So that is a large number that has been lumped in with a number of different type scenarios, but not what you’ve been watching on TV.”
Well, CNN goes above and beyond with fake news. The network is reporting that there have been 22 school shootings this year, "on average, one school shooting every week."
Including today’s shooting incident at a Texas high school, this year there have already been 22 school shootings w… https://t.co/6DQz376XCk— CNN (@CNN)1526656396.0
CNN is also lumping this stat in with the "facts" of the Texas high school shooting.
What we know about the Texas school shooting: - At least 8 dead, mostly students - At least 12 people hospitalize… https://t.co/64uaVIYYKO— CNN (@CNN)1526660145.0
And the network's reporters are parroting it.
This brings the number of U.S. school shootings this year to 22. https://t.co/hS7KKFiO65— Jim Sciutto (@Jim Sciutto)1526655439.0
22...22 School shootings and today is the 138th day in 2018. That’s a school shooting about every 6 days. https://t.co/QShLoGfuV5— Nick Valencia (@Nick Valencia)1526663547.0
Which means, of course, that air-headed, fact-challenged politicians are repeating it.
In 2018, there have been 22 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed. That's more than 1 shooting a week.… https://t.co/QBK8dtaP2K— Gavin Newsom (@Gavin Newsom)1526661293.0
22 school shootings in 2018. 3 in the last week. How many times must our hearts break hearing news like this - th… https://t.co/D7ErJjhF4v— Tim Kaine (@Tim Kaine)1526657812.0
All because this air-headed, fact-challenged network wanted a provocative headline. CNN's report mentions up front that it includes "gang violence, fights, and domestic violence" as well as "accidental discharge of a firearm" in the parameters for determine a "school shooting." But in context of the breaking news about a school shooting, where an individual murdered students, CNN's headline implies that there have been 22 similar incidents this year — and that is not true.
CNN continues to lie/mislead their readers. This “22” school shootings number literally includes things like a BB g… https://t.co/sADpufSkUF— Kelb Hull (@Kelb Hull)1526660414.0
So is this an apple or a banana? It doesn't matter, because CNN's fruit is always rotten.