Author Archives: Josh Levs

Episode 57: Hit Pieces

As soon as it started, a listener alerted Josh: an avalanche of “hit pieces” about Sen. John Fetterman was on the way. Soon, big news organizations did come forward with a slew of reports about the senator, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. The reporting involved allegations about his mental health from one named former staffer — and a bunch of anonymous people.

This triggered a debate. Did the media learn a lesson from Biden, or is it helping far left activists try to take down Fetterman for stances they don’t like? In addition to being willing to reach across the aisle, Fetterman has been unwavering in his recognition of Israel’s obvious right to fight to destroy Hamas after the most evil terrorist attack of modern times. 

Today, Josh explains that this story is about much more than one man. It’s about anonymous sourcing, rules over vetting information, and coverage of mental health. It’s a tale of buried lines that are crucial for context and fairness, the media’s tendency to forget the whole point of doing a story, and the gullibility that makes big news agencies ripe for a political operative to manipulate.

Episode 56: Punishing Democracy

The media isn’t just failing to fight for democracy; it’s punishing a nation for being a democracy. Today, Josh takes you on a trip to a region you virtually never hear about in the news, to show you the “practical, simple, and pathetic reason” this happens. Along the way, you’ll hear a crucial update on horrors facing Christians in Africa, and how a — perhaps surprising — religious leader stepped in where the media has failed. 

Meanwhile, in a follow-up to last week, hear how the most venerated U.S. news program engaged in a public act of grandstanding. It was praised by journalists, but should instead be studied as a memorable sign of news industry hypocrisy.

Plus, the media is propagating what is probably the biggest myth in U.S. politics, involving the two major parties and fiscal responsibility.

Episode 55: Grandstanding

Journalists are talking about the importance of truth telling. But what they’re saying conflicts with what their news agencies are doing. Today, Josh digs into this growing problem. When one speaker at a journalism awards dinner said something critical about the media, it ended up exposing the media’s propensity for grandstanding.

Plus, CBS platformed a Russian official in a long interview, and did not mention democracy. Even worse, CBS indicated that it took a piece of guidance from the Russian government. What?!

Meanwhile, a leader of Columbia University’s vicious antisemitic mobs has changed his story yet again. Josh explains.

Episode 54: Fake Bio

A man getting a ton of news attention tells a tale of his tragic, inspirational backstory, and the media eats it up. But what if it isn’t true? An independent journalist in the UK began doing some very basic fact checking, and quickly found that basic elements of the alleged story are, as he puts it “impossible.”

On today’s show, journalist David Collier joins Josh to discuss his coverage of a pro-terror radical from Columbia University whom the media have been portraying as a perfect, peace-loving hero. “I did what every single journalist in the United States should have done,” David explains. The tale this man is spinning could just as easily be “about Narnia. It’s crazy that any journalist has looked at this person and taken him seriously.”

So, have any major news agencies changed their reporting in the face of this evidence? Listen in to find out.

Episode 53: Fame Obsession

An annual spectacle is about to take place in Washington, showing so much of what’s wrong with today’s media: the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. On today’s show, Josh digs into the corrosive obsession with “fame” in the news business, and how it leads journalists to stray far away from their role of providing you the truth.

You’ll hear a network’s flagship political show, just the other day, present sports analyst Stephen A. Smith as a contender for the U.S. presidency — without mentioning that he has no particular set of knowledge or skills for the job. (As Josh explains, Smith himself points out what’s wrong with this way of thinking.) And you’ll hear a political operative talk about how the fame obsession led members of his party in Washington to do “evil.”

Also, how the media weaponizes fame to skew stories, like that of a pro-terror radical from Columbia University. And a crucial lesson from the Enron scandal more than twenty years ago.

Episode 52: Reaching Voters

There’s a line you often hear these days: that people don’t “see themselves reflected” in the media. Today, a guest joins Josh to explain how that problem applies to a majority of American voters — and how the media’s failure in this respect leaves people uninformed.

Plus, an anniversary! They Stand Corrected has completed a full year of episodes, with no weeks off. To celebrate, Josh answers listeners’ questions, shares amazing feedback, and offers a prescription for how to face an onslaught of awful news in the world. It’s a life skill that isn’t taught, but should be.

Episode 51: Misunderstood Citizens

It’s what Josh warned about in November: Exit polls are not trustworthy. Now, new information indicates what really happened in the elections — and proves that popular media narratives were wrong. One theory in particular that got traction in the media was the exact opposite of what happened.

To do its job in protecting democracy, the media must work to understand and accurately portray citizens of democratic nations. So Josh also digs into a misguided, problematic term used to describe one such group on the other side of the globe: “settlers.” It has been in the news in recent days. An attorney who gathers facts about this joins Josh to explain why the reality is not what news audiences have been told.

Plus why a Hollywood former child star’s realization about her mother carries such an important lesson.

Episode 50: Dehumanization

The term “dehumanization” is all over the news these days, in all kinds of contexts. In some cases, it’s so overused or misused that it’s being stripped of its meaning. But what if the people crying “dehumanization” the most are the ones engaging in it the most? Today on They Stand Corrected, Josh shows how people on the left — and the media itself — regularly engage in a form of dehumanization: infantilization. 

But first, something new on the pro-terror radical from Columbia University. An analysis shows big news agencies are ignoring their own reporting — and misleading you. Josh interviews the man behind that analysis, which includes household name agencies.

Plus, the media’s at it again, blowing it on alleged “death tolls.”

Episode 48: Cycle Breaker: Immigration

When the media make excuses for failing to get you the truth, they often blame the “news cycle.” It’s time to break that process. Today, Josh does so by focusing on a major issue filled with lies in the news: illegal immigration. Figures you’ve been hearing, and arguments about fentanyl and sex trafficking, are wrong. By failing to make this clear, the media is causing societal problems. 

Immigration-related reporting failures also tie in to a statement from an Oscar-winning propagandist and a so-called “human rights activist” on a public radio show. Josh shows why this made-for-the-media line makes no sense to anyone who learns facts about the Middle East. Plus, the BBC blew it so badly that it pulled a documentary off of its platforms. Josh explains.

Episode 47: Trump-storm & Helicopters

Since taking office, Trump has been on a blitzkrieg — a rapid, intense, chaotic effort to dismantle much of the government as we know it. He’s using endless lies to get away with it, and the media’s longtime failures are helping him. After years of letting lies go uncorrected, news agencies have left Americans with no clear sense of where to turn for truth.

Today, Josh digs into “DOGE” disasters, Trump’s treatment of Ukraine, and how his team and surrogates lie with impunity during what is supposed to be the ultimate example of political journalism. Also, a message to share with anyone you know who may be caught up in a cult of personality.

Plus, at the Oscars, an anti-Israel propaganda film wins a “documentary” award, and its creators use their speech to lie, exactly as Josh predicted. He sets the record straight.

Episode 46: Evil (Minisode)

In this brief dispatch from the road, where Josh has done five speaking events in recent days, he addresses a question many of you are asking: Why can’t the media distinguish good from evil? He provides proof that they do — but not consistently. There’s a big exception.

This helps explain disastrous reporting in recent days about the horrific slaughter of the Bibas children and their mother — a slaughter that Gazans cheered for with jubilation. And it explains a big mistake the media is making in appending alleged death tolls to reports about this family.

Also, what the cancellation of prominent host Joy Reid’s show on MSNBC could mean for the media and the battles against anti-democratic forces on both the right and the left.

Episode 45: Political Lens Removal

What happens when big news agencies discuss people’s growing distrust of the media? These conversations instantly turn to politics, missing a larger point. Today, Josh explains the paradigm shift of removing the political lens and looking at what everyone needs from the news.

Plus, did a healthcare giant use massively faulty AI to make potentially life-or-death decisions about claims? And with a new study indicating plentiful food supplies were generally sent into Gaza, Josh shows the media’s failure to cast a light on who was definitely being starved there: hostages held by Hamas.