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 The Desert Review Right-Center Biased and Questionable based on the frequent promotion of pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and misinformation regarding covid-19.
Detailed Report
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Questionable Reasoning: Pseudoscience, Conspiracy, Poor Sources, Lack of Transparency
Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: USA
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Founded in 2012, The Desert Review is a community website and weekly printed newspaper serving the Imperial Valley/County in Southern California. According to their about page, “The Desert Review is an award-winning, locally owned, and independent online news source and weekly printed publication that covers the events, sports, and people of the Imperial Valley in southern California and the stories that matter to the community.”
The website and paper lack transparency as they do not clearly indicate ownership, and some authors use pseudonyms rather than their real names.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
The Desert Review lacks transparency as they do not clearly disclose ownership. On the contact page, they list Lloyd Miller as the publisher. We assume he is also an owner; however, this is not clear. Advertising in both the printed paper and website generates revenue.
Analysis / Bias
The Desert Review covers news, sports, law, health, business, and events for the greater Imperial Valley region. Local news stories are minimally biased and written by staff reporters such as this Brawley native, Commander Wes Burns, retires from service. The website breaks the news down into national and world categories. However, when you click on them, it leads to opinion columnists who tend to publish misinformation regarding Covid-19, especially regarding the use of Ivermectin as an effective and safe treatment for Covid-19.
Regarding Ivermectin, The Desert Review covers it extensively to the point where you would think this is an Ivermectin promotion source. Perhaps it is as nearly every article talks about the positive virtues of Ivermectin such as this Gaslighting Ivermectin, vaccines and the pandemic for profit and this The great Ivermectin deworming hoax. Many pro-Ivermectin opinion articles are written by Surviving Cancer, COVID-19, and Disease: The Repurposed Drug Revolution. The book and articles he writes focus on pharmaceutical drug repurposing. Drug Repurposing uses ‘old’ drugs to treat both common and rare diseases—for example, Ivermectin to treat Covid-19. There is nothing wrong with drug repurposing; however, in this case, there is no supportive evidence for Ivermectin.
While Ivermectin is an FDA-approved drug for treating human parasites, it is not an approved treatment for Covid-19. The Desert Review promotes its use and downplays the dangers of using the livestock dewormer of the same name, The great Ivermectin deworming hoax. Further, they have promoted false information such as this India’s Ivermectin Blackout: Part II. The article claims, “But the bottom line remains why India’s Ivermectin experience remains under a media blackout. Why does the New York Times, who should know better, say it is all a great mystery?”
It is not a mystery because there isn’t any evidence or data to suggest that Ivermectin is the cause of the decline of Covid in India.
The Desert Review generally reports local news responsibly and with minimal bias; however, op-eds frequently promote dangerous pseudoscience and media conspiracy theories without evidence.
Failed Fact Checks
- A third-party fact-checker has not directly checked them. See our examples above.
Overall, we rate The Desert Review Right-Center Biased and Questionable based on the frequent promotion of pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and misinformation regarding covid-19. (Staff / Edited by D. Van Zandt 9/10/2021)
Source: https://www.thedesertreview.com/
Last Updated on July 1, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources