Why Do I Care if It Misinforms Me?

LinkinPost, repeated by Mike, New Republic and The Washington Post said that only 0.01% of welfare users tested positive for drugs. If true, welfare recipients would use drugs at less than 1% of the rate of the general population. And, the articles heavily implied, conservatives worried about people spending their welfare money on drugs were therefore unscientific and bigoted. None of the stories mentioned that the test, in quotes, was just asking the welfare recipients whether they were taking drugs - with no attempt to check if they were lying. Some might say this was important context, but again there are no outright lies,. But the New York Times didn't lie outright, they reported the