Psychology Today Promotes Its Own Trump Fake News

No matter what your political view, it is disconcerting when we run across news online that is not factually correct. President Trump refers to such news stories as “fake news” — but also includes in this category any news story he simply doesn’t agree with. Earlier this month, Psychology Today ran an article entitled, “60,000 Psychologists Say Trump Has ‘Serious Mental Illness’.” The problem with this headline? It wasn’t true. But that didn’t stop them from publishing it on their site for four days, before they were called out on the issue on Twitter for its inaccuracy. Headline writing is as much an art as it is a science. I understand how difficult it can be for headline editors to read a story and ensure that the headline accurately reflects not only the article’s main topic, but also the facts. The article in question was authored by Suzanne Lachmann, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist in New York. In it, she apparently did not make a claim that “60,000 psychologists say Trump has ‘serious mental illness.’ Instead, she wrote: The group “Duty to Warn,” founded by influential psychotherapist Dr. John Gartner, has gathered nearly 60,000 signatures on a petition calling for the removal of Donald Trump from office due to “serious mental illness that renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States.” When in...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Celebrities General Minding the Media Policy and Advocacy Psychology Source Type: blogs