I know I’m always ranting in general about the huge leftist bias in the mainstream media, but here is a specific, spectacular example from a couple weeks ago. This showcases one of the progressives’ favorite strategies: go out loud and strong with a deceptive half-truth and disseminate widely; when challenged on your veracity, quietly issue a paltry retraction (or better yet a “stealth update”) that almost no one will actually see. Here’s how that played out in this instance –
 
Two weeks ago…

… the Associated Press ran an article that spread quickly Thursday morning across social media and other news outlets describing an horrific story of unbelievable abuse of minor immigrants in the custody and care of the United States government. Dubbed “Abu Ghraib for eighth-graders” by a Daily Beast reporter, the allegations in the explosive story included children being handcuffed, beaten, left in solitary confinement and, unimaginably, even worse.

 
GASP! I knew it! That evil Trump!
Exactly the reaction they were going for ~

In that Associated Press article describing these terrible and outrageous conditions, President Donald Trump’s name came up four times […]
 
However, the allegations in this article covered a time period prior to Trump ever taking office. The specific court case cited involves alleged incidents occurring before and during 2016, when Trump was still on the campaign trail and we had a different president.

 
Oops.

That president, Barack Obama, was mentioned exactly zero times in the article.

 
This is not journalism folks. It’s leftist, anti-Trump advocacy.
 
This particular story concerns the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center in Staunton, VA.. And the allegations certainly are disturbing…

… that young Latino immigrants held there “are subjected to unconstitutional conditions that shock the conscience, including violence by staff, abusive and excessive use of seclusion and restraints, and the denial of necessary mental health care.”

 
 
The youths held at Shenandoah Valley were caught crossing the border alone (not separated from their parents – as both the Obama and Trump administrations have done). Many had been sent there after federal immigration authorities accused them of belonging to violent gangs. The center itself denies all allegations of mistreatment.
 
In addition to mentioning Trump’s name four times and Obama’s not at all, the timing of the article was a deliberate calculation. The news was hardly “breaking” as the AP implied. The lawsuit, referencing activities that occurred in 2015 and 2016, was filed more than a year ago; the last activity on the case was in January.
 
Publishing this piece in the middle of the controversy over separating kids from their illegal alien parents was obviously intended to to manipulate, not inform. What makes it even more egregious, as Caleb Howe at PJ Media points out, there must have been some blowback because the AP “stealth updated” the original story, meaning they added one sentence to indicate the dates that the alleged abuse occurred (“2015 to 2018” – even this fact is incorrect, the suit covers 2015 to 2016) and actually mentioned both administrations.

 
Because the Left would lose on this issue in an open debate, and because a majority of Americans already want a secure border and limited immigration, they have to use agit-prop to push their open borders agenda. Don’t fall victim to their manipulation.