QUESTIONABLE SOURCE
A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be very untrustworthy and should be fact-checked on a per-article basis. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources.
- Overall, we rate Quillette Questionable based on the promotion of racial pseudoscience, the use of poor sources, and failed fact checks.
Detailed Report
Reasoning: Pseudoscience, Poor Sourcing, Failed Fact Checks
Bias Rating: RIGHT
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: Australia
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Founded in 2015 by Claire Lehmann, Quillette is an Australian online magazine that primarily focuses on science, technology, news, culture, and politics.
According to their about page, “Quillette is a platform for free thought. We respect ideas, even dangerous ones. We also believe that free expression and the free exchange of ideas help human societies flourish and progress. Quillette aims to provide a platform for this exchange.”
Read our country media profile on Australia
Funded by / Ownership
Quillette states on their about page that they are a “for-profit venture and funded primarily through reader donations. We also receive modest funding through online advertising via Amazon Affiliates.”
Analysis
In review, Quillette is a right-leaning blog that features lengthy, well-written articles. Headlines occasionally utilize loaded language such as this: Cowardice at Columbia. This story is also properly sourced to credible local media and provides video evidence. In another article, Jordan Peterson, And the New Chivalry, they report favorably on Jordan Peterson, who has made several anti-feminist statements and has called for “enforced monogamy,” and “The people who hold that our culture is an oppressive patriarchy, they don’t want to admit that the current hierarchy might be predicated on competence.”
Editor-in-Chief and Founder Claire Lehmann are considered a part of the Intellectual Dark Web, a term used to describe a “group of public personalities who oppose what they see as the dominance of progressive identity politics and political correctness in the media and academia.” The primary mission of the IDW is to reject political correctness and embrace a free-thinking discussion of controversial topics. Further, according to the left-leaning Village Voice, Claire Lehmann, believes “nationalism is the antidote to racism” and claims to have been “blacklisted” for “criticizing feminism”.
Bias
In general, Quillette promotes right-leaning positions such as anti-feminism and questionable viewpoints regarding racism. For example, in this article, they state, “Racist attitudes of whites towards blacks have long become socially unacceptable in America, although the reverse, racism of a minority directed at the white majority, is still tolerated or even encouraged.”
Reverse racism is controversial and disputed by some. It is certainly possible for minorities to be prejudiced against Whites; however, some believe racism requires “systematic oppression built into the government, institutions and social structures. Without this factor of systematic oppression, there cannot be racism.” This article also talks at length about IQ differences between whites and blacks and, while not definitively stating it, repeats over and over that genetics are a factor in racial IQ differences (hereditarianism, which is a pseudoscientific viewpoint).
Further, on May 29, 2019, Quillette published an article by Eoin Lenihan, claiming “connections between anti-fascist activists and national-level reporters who cover the far-right.” According to Columbia Journalism Review, Lenihan “identified himself as an online extremism researcher, despite having no association with any previously known organization that researches extremism. In reality, Lenihan was already an established right-wing troll, now blanket banned for ‘violating rules against managing multiple Twitter accounts for abusive purposes.’” When asked by CJR if the information contained in the story was fact-checked, Quillette declined to comment.
Failed Fact Checks
- On Behalf Of Environmentalists, I Apologize For The Climate Scare – Low Scientific Credibility
- Police in Portland, Oregon determined that anti-fascist activists mixed quick-dry concrete and caustic chemicals into milkshakes that were both thrown and consumed. – False
- People who confronted an elderly woman as she attempted to cross a street using a walker were allied with anti-fascist (or “antifa”) movements. – No Evidence
- Flo Jo died in her sleep as a result of a drug overdose. – False
Overall, we rate Quillette Questionable based on the promotion of racial pseudoscience, the use of poor sources, and failed fact checks. (D. Van Zandt 6/4/2017) Updated (09/01/2023)
Source: https://quillette.com
Last Updated on September 1, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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