Axing fact-checkers ‘like disbanding your fire department,’ former CNN journo complains amid LA wildfires [Video]

Some media outlets and fact-checking organizations have compared fact-checkers to first responders battling a “wildfire” of conspiracy theories as fires continue throughout Los Angeles County.

On Monday, CNN published a report on Meta eliminating its third-party fact-checking system where it criticized the decision in light of “misinformation” about the wildfires themselves.

The article, titled “Soon to be out of a job, Meta’s fact-checkers battle a blaze of wildfire conspiracy theories,” quoted a journalist who compared fact-checkers to fire departments.

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“Rumor and speculation about the disaster began to swirl online like glowing embers, before eventually becoming a wild blaze of vast conspiracy theories,” the article read.

Former CNN journalist Alan Duke, who co-founded a fact-checking outlet funded by Meta, added, “Cutting fact-checkers from social platforms is like disbanding your fire department.” 

Other sites used similar language, likening fact-checkers to …