Author Archives: Josh Levs

Episode 7: All the Queen’s Lies, Part I

When a listener asked Josh to look into Joy Reid’s interview with Queen Rania of Jordan on MSNBC, he discovered the “Shawshank Redemption” of fact checking. 

Today, in Part I of a two-parter, how this interview shows the ways that blatant lies and hypocrisy are so prevalent in mainstream media, particularly when it comes to anything involving Israel. Hear about slain U.S. soldiers, ignored Israeli rape victims, backward narratives, erasure of history, and how the queen is using her position to gaslight the world. Also, how governments really responded to the October 7 massacres, support for “honor killings” in Jordan, and the media’s efforts to fuel a “big lie” on the left.

Episode 6: Pulitizers & The Double Whammy

A quick update episode while Josh prepares a big two-parter to begin next week. In this update, he shares exciting news about the podcast being in Newsweek thanks to a column inspired by a listener. 

Josh explains that while the media is looking for who, or what, to blame for the dangerous, violent protests on college campuses, they should “look in the freaking mirror.” The timing is especially important because the Pulitzer Prizes were announced, including for some news agencies whose profound journalistic failures are radicalizing people against the Jewish state. 

Also, the “double whammy” — how you are being mistreated in two ways when the media feeds you lies.

Episode 5: The ‘Crying Wolf’ Myth

Inside news organizations, there is widespread belief in a false, negative stereotype. It’s a myth strategically designed to skew their coverage against Israel and make them impervious to legitimate complaints of antisemitism. On this episode, Josh shows how the media pushes the “Jews cry wolf” myth, and two key tactics to watch out for.

We’ll learn how the media turns to the straw man fallacy, and tried to use it against Bill Maher in a question that “caved in on itself.” Also how the media could not have been any more wrong about Emma Watson. And a little wisdom from Jordan Peele.

Episode 4: The Media’s ‘Death Toll’ Fails

The media’s anti-Israel bias is fueling dangerous protests and exacerbating serious threats to America. And it’s getting worse, with news organizations frequently parroting terrorists’ talking points. Case in point: “death tolls” from Gaza. In this episode, Josh explains why those numbers can’t be trusted. Also, the relatively scant attention given to wars with incomparably bigger death tolls, including one that killed an estimated 600,000 people in just two years this decade. (And wait until you hear the estimated tolls from the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.) Plus, an important note about the heroism of Americans who fought for the Allied Forces in World War II.

Josh also shares some of your amazing reactions to the show! Subscribe to the newsletter, packed with links, images and more. Submit questions, comments, and reports you want fact checked, all in a safe space that keeps out haters and spammers. Plus, support the show! theystandcorrected.substack.com

Sponsors: supportTSC@joshlevs.com

Episode 3: Media Lies About ‘International Law’

For decades, the media has broken a cardinal rule of journalism — and gotten a basic fact wrong. Today, the media’s false claims about Israel and “international law.” Josh sets the record straight, and shows why the media’s failure gave Trump a political victory that he didn’t earn. We’ll take a (very) quick tour through decades of U.S. presidents, from Carter on, to set the record straight about them as well.

Episode 2: The Media’s ‘Terrorism’ Hypocrisy

They Stand Corrected Ep 2 superimposed over a man standing on a pile of media

Virtually all major news agencies follow the same pattern. Attacks targeting civilians are “terrorism” everywhere — except in Israel. When it comes to the slaughter of Jews, the term “terror” is suddenly off the table. And when called out on this bias, news executives try to gaslight the world.

This problem goes far beyond semantics. It determines whether people even learn the basics of what happened at all. Today on They Stand Corrected, Josh shows why this bigoted rule helps Islamist terrorist groups mislead the world about Israel. Hear the proof!

 Episode 1: The Media Is Wrong About ‘Occupation’

They Stand Corrected Ep 1 superimposed over a man standing on a pile of media

Today, how the media gets “occupation” wrong. Learn why calling Gaza and the West Bank “the occupied territories” is bigoted nonsense, and why the media refuses to call occupied territories all over the world “occupied territories.” Plus, a document from the Palestinian Authority that lists the Israeli occupation as having ended in 1994; a top news website for kids that describes Guam as occupied; and how Islamist terrorist groups including Hezbollah are actually pro-occupation.

Welcome to They Stand Corrected, the podcast that fact checks the news

They Stand Corrected: man standing on a pile of media

As we enter an even worse era of misinformation and “alternative facts,” we desperately need news media to be trustworthy sources of truth. But all too often, news organizations report what liars — and even terrorists — say without telling you what’s true. They give these folks “open mics.” They fail to fact check.

Who holds the media to account? Now, there’s a podcast for that. Welcome to They Stand Corrected, from award-winning journalist Josh Levs. He spent 20 years in the media, first at NPR and then at CNN, where he became lead on air fact checker. He also wrote a book busting myths about modern families, to rave reviews, and has spoken everywhere from the U.N. to Congress, Oxford, Google and more. Now, from outside bureaucratic media, he sees more clearly than ever what prevents the media from providing the whole truth.

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