Hard Reset

Far-right extremists called the Boogaloo Bois have gained national attention after multiple arrests and their presence at some racial justice protests. We spoke with Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center, about why the pandemic was a breaking point for the group and whether or not it’s an actual movement. We also spoke with tech journalist Jacob Silverman about what journalists go through while covering Facebook, which does everything it can to throw reporters “off the scent” of a story. At the same time, there’s a big power disparity between news outlets and Facebook. Newsrooms rely on the social network for traffic and sometimes for funding. Through the Facebook Journalism Project, the company has given millions of dollars to news organizations.

On Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, President Donald Trump held his first rally in months, an event that was controversial from the beginning. We spoke with Dylan Goforth, editor in chief of the Tulsa-based investigative news site The Frontier, to get some context about what the rally meant to Tulsans and how the city and state responded to criticism that the event would put the public’s health at risk. Plus: The use of surveillance on protesters and the companies that have cut coronavirus hazard pay.

Since last week, editors at multiple publications have resigned over racism allegations or in response to criticism of their protest coverage. On this week’s show, we spoke with Jason Johnson, a Morgan State University associate professor focused on politics and journalism. He says that the journalism industry, which is more white and male than the population at large, keeps failing to recruit and empower black journalists. Also: Ongoing discussions about racism have prompted some communities to remove Confederate statues. Will Mississippi become part of the trend and retire its flag, which contains the Confederate emblem?

In the journalism industry, coverage choices that have been the standard for decades are being called into question amid sustained protests against police brutality. Newsrooms are reconsidering the merits of everything from photographing activists to the words and headlines used to frame protests. Meanwhile, dozens of videos have shown police attacking protesters and journalists. What do these incidents say about Americans’ right to protest?

Courthouses across the country are expecting a flood of new civil cases as they begin to reopen their doors. Legal aid programs, which provide legal help to low-income people, are already seeing an increased demand for their services. At the same time, some legal aid programs stand to lose millions of dollars because of the financial impact of covid-19.

Journalists are in new terrain. They’re learning as much as they can as quickly as they can about how their communities are being impacted by the coronavirus. But how do you report the story of the century from home? Mississippi Today editor-in-chief Ryan L. Nave talks about how his newsroom is approaching the story and the role stereotypes about the South play in national covid-19 coverage. Also: A fact check on a small business relief program that got off to a rocky start.

A constant flood of information about covid-19 is taking its toll on some of us as we struggle to balance staying informed with managing our mental health. Even before covid-19, Americans were increasingly dealing with news fatigue – the feeling of being exhausting by the news. We’ll talk with researchers about what causes news fatigue, why people avoid the news during stressful times and how to find ways to balance your news consumption. Plus: Why we should get away from the conventional wisdom that journalists have to be objective and bias-free to do their jobs.

Last week, President Donald Trump pardoned and gave clemency to eight people who were convicted of white-collar crimes. One of those who were pardoned is Michael Milken, a former investment banker who was accused of insider trading and stock manipulation. Milken played a crucial role in making junk bonds popular, ushering in an era of hostile takeovers and high corporate debt. Also on the show: In a recently resurfaced clip, billionaire and presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg suggested farming is simple and doesn’t take much “gray matter.” We have some context on what Bloomberg said and how farmers invest in technology.

The Equal Rights Amendment is getting a second life, but a lot is up in the air, including whether or not it could go into effect after missing a ratification deadline decades ago. Meanwhile, some opponents argue that it could increase access to abortion. Also on the show: Roger Stone’s attorneys requested a new trial, alleging the head juror was biased. His defense team knew she had run for office as a Democrat, but did not attempt to remove her from the case.  Plus, an update on white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who YouTube banned last week for hate speech violations.

The results from last week’s Democratic caucuses in Iowa were delayed for days after the app responsible for reporting the results malfunctioned. Co-host Justin Sanders, who works in software and app development, explains how the app failed and some ways these issues could have been avoided. Also: One last impeachment fact check and a look into a Trump administration plan that could lead to Medicaid cuts.

Disinformation and propaganda have dominated the impeachment process from the beginning. On this week’s show, we look at this through the lens of two claims from Senate Republicans and Trump’s defense attorneys during the trial: Did the House of Representatives “not do its job” when requesting evidence for the impeachment investigation? And was attorney Alan Dershowitz’s jarring comment about quid pro quos and the public interest mischaracterized in the media?

President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is underway, and there are still some uncertainties. Will the trial include witnesses? Will the Senate stay awake during any part of the proceedings? Will Sen. Rand Paul ever finish his crossword puzzle? Also: Listeners, we want to know what you think about Hard Reset. Take our survey by visiting bigiftrue.org/survey.

Presidents and other officials can be impeached for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” On today’s show: What that means and why impeachment charges don’t have to be tied to a specific crime.

After an American drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani this month, President Donald Trump and other officials have said that the general had been planning an attack against the U.S. at the time of his death. But the White House has offered conflicting details of Soleimani’s plans to attack and no evidence to support them. On this episode of Hard Reset, we’ll explore those contradictions and factcheck two other claims that emerged after Soleimani’s death: Did Democrats mourn Soleimani and is his daughter a U.S. citizen?

Last week, a report from the Department of Justice’s inspector general examined how the FBI conducted its investigation into whether or not the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. We factchecked a claim about the report and former Central Intelligence Agency head John Brennan. Plus: YouTube’s updated harassment policy and why Big If True looks for data voids, search engine results that provide little or no reliable information.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that a new policy for food stamp recipients will cause about 688,000 people to lose their benefits. We factchecked some of the reactions to this rule change, including whether or not children will be affected and if this will hit families before the Christmas holiday. Plus, an update from last week’s episode about hate speech podcasts.

As podcasts grow in popularity, white nationalists and white supremacists are using the platform to reach a broader audience ever. Experts on extremism have expressed concerns that these shows could radicalize others into hate groups. Today on the show: How white nationalists use podcasts to fly under the radar, how these shows amplify conspiracy theories and how audio platforms are responding to this content.

A 21-year-old white nationalist is using online platforms like YouTube to rally his followers into trolling conservatives IRL. On this episode, we’ll hear from William Nardi, a conservative writer for National Review who met Nicholas Fuentes when they both were college students in Boston.

The internet is filled with hoax photos, but tracing where they came from isn’t as hard as you might think. The Hard Reset team gives you tips on how to identify a fake photo and walks you through the process reporters used to debunk two very different images – a K9 unit linked to the al-Baghdadi raid and Prince’s mugshot from a Mississippi jail.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a U.S. special operations raid in Syria. In his speech, Trump claimed he predicted the 9/11 attacks, but is that accurate? And another fact check: Can medical abortions be reversed?