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The Press Gets Unwound by Their Solitary Sources, and the NYT Goes Winter Shopping With Mamdani

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Feb 10, 2026
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

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Deadline Gambit – THE GUARDIAN

  • The story was just too good to ruin with accuracy.

At The Guardian, they were really intent upon getting the goods on Tulsi Gabbard, so much so that they were not concerned about getting good information.

Cate Brown was eager to share the details about a whistleblower involving a call from an intelligence agent and someone in Trump’s orbit.

As Ms. Brown excitedly shared her exposé, Alexa Henning, Gabbard’s Deputy Chief of Staff, not only categorically denied this report, she informs that she told Brown about the inaccuracies and would get her the correct information, but she stampeded with having her report published.

The result: Brown had to come out with what she calls a “clarification.” It is, in truth, a revision. The phone call was actually now said to be between two figures outside the Trump orbit, and as the editor’s note in the piece now reads, the report was based not on the whistleblower’s words but what had been said by their attorney, who alters his comments.

Remember back when reporters were instructed to get corroboration from additional sources? That would have been a prudent rule to follow in this case.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – THE TIMES OF LONDON

  • Seems like further research would have been beneficial.

Another outlet has fallen prey to relying on a solitary source, and gets shamed as a result. The Times gave a report about Jeffrey Epstein having ties to Mossad, but as Ben Smith of Semafor notes, this was based on a lone dubious source, and no tangible evidence was provided to back the claim.

This is the kind of reporting that normally has disinformation/fake news/propaganda attached to it, where the usual outrage merchants are normally interested in calling this out.

Border-line Obsession – THE IRISH TIMES

  • You are upset that you are getting him back?

There is a story about a 20-year resident from Ireland being picked up by ICE and held for months. As the home country paper states, he has a “valid” green card. He is married to a U.S. citizen and has started his own business. But, as we have come to expect, there is always more to these stories.

While he does seem to be the very type of arrival who is beneficial, we see that he came to this country on a 90-day visa, and overstayed his permit – by nearly 20 years.

What is revealing is that he somehow navigated the labyrinthine process to start up his own company, but during two decades could not find a way to get the documents to become a naturalized citizen.

Reporting on the Mirror – WASHINGTON POST

  • A failure of creativity AND of timing.

Max Tani reports that there was yet another challenge experienced by the Washington Post. The paper was set to alter its tag line, moving on from “Democracy Dies In Darkness,” and going with a more generic-sounding and unoriginal line of “We The People.” But, just as they were set to make the announcement, MSNBC went with its forced rebranding, and the outlet used that same phrase in its PR campaign.

So as the Post was forced to pull back that effort, you have to wonder if any of the recently departed figures from the Post leaked this nugget to the cable network.

Legalized Press-titution – THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • The people of the city thank you for staying abreast of these vital details.

Looking at New York City, you have no lack of news worth covering. There are snow removal challenges, trash pickups polluting the city, and the mayor spouting off more and more disturbing instances of communist policies and strict Muslim practices. Then there is the not so small matter of the lack of efforts made with the homeless, leading to at least 18 people perishing in the cold.

With all of this building up, The Times dedicates its energy to what is most important: How Mayor Zohran Mamdani selects his winter coat purchases with the aid of his wife.