For a full year, the official media narrative was that there was “‘Exactly Zero’ Evidence Covid-19 Came From a Lab.” (That from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in May 2020)  To suggest any such evidence might exist was a pure conspiracy theory. The scientific community had come to a consensus on the subject, one that had been fact checked by multiple independent news sources such as the Washington Post and Politifact. Facebook and Instagram flagged Tucker Carlson’s interview with a Chinese virologist who said the virus did not come from nature as “containing false evidence about Covid-19.” They view it as their duty to protect us from such falsehoods: leaving that information on the internet without qualifiers would recklessly contribute to the spread of misinformation. 

It’s funny how many big news stories, especially those that may be politically sensitive, get framed with this type of hyperbolic language: “Fact-checked. We are absolutely certain, without a doubt, that there’s nothing more to see here.” That’s especially true if the story might lead a remotely curious person to question the official narrative. Stories such as Russia collusion, the Hunter Biden laptop, and voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential election. They pull the curtain closed to hide the truth and proceed to an elaborate song and dance number. Months or a year later, when the political tensions have dissipated or become irrelevant, then we’re allowed to have access to the information -- or, at least more of it. Maybe they’re hoping we’ve stopped paying attention by then.

But that makes it more important than ever that we keep paying attention. In the case of the Covid-19 lab leak, there is an abundance of articles from last year to this year that show the media’s 180 degree pivot. Not only do these articles make the media gaslighting obvious, they intensify my own sense that we are living in a censored environment that has many characteristics of an authoritarian regime. 

A year ago, when the pandemic first began, a person could be accused of racism against the Chinese for even mentioning that there is a virology lab in Wuhan. Just two days ago, NYT science writer Apoorva Mandavilli deleted a tweet that said, “Someday we will stop talking about the lab leak theory and maybe even admit its racist roots.”

Here are some natural questions that might arise in this situation that one might expect journalism to address: Is it just a pure coincidence that there is a virology lab in the town where the disease arose? Did that lab just happen to be studying the very kind of virus that causes the disease? Given these extraordinary coincidences, wouldn’t an investigation be expected?  Isn’t an authoritarian institution like the Chinese Communist Party intensely focused on suppressing critical information that might make them look bad? Instead of addressing these questions, the mainstream press spent their time accusing President Trump of fueling conspiracies and listing the experts who disagreed with him and extolling their qualifications. 

Here is a small sampling of those articles from 2020: 

Vox (April 2020): Nearly A Third of Americans Believe a Conspiracy Theory about the Origins of Coronavirus

Forbes (May 2020): Fauci, Top U.S. General, Throw Cold Water on Trump’s Coronavirus Claim

Top line quote: “Two high ranking government officials — Dr. Anthony Fauci and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley — pumped the brakes on the controversial theory COVID-19 originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, even as President Trump and other administration officials rally around the claim without any public evidence”

Washington Post Fact Check (May 2020): Was The Coronavirus Released from a Wuhan Lab

Claim: [By President Trump] I will tell you, more and more, we’re hearing the story [that the new coronavirus emerged from a Wuhan lab].”

Claimed by: Donald Trump

Fact check by The Washington Post: Doubtful

The Guardian (June 2020): Ignore the Conspiracy Theories: Scientists Know Covid-19 Wasn’t Created in a Lab 

Excerpt:  “Suggestions that Covid-19 is a manmade virus are the latest chapter in a tale of blame, misinformation and finger-pointing. Cue the conspiracy theorists, marching out their narrative about the high-security BSL-4 lab in Wuhan, where mysterious experiments to design ‘frankenviruses’ led to the tragic global pandemic. Cue the genetic analyses pointing to ‘unexpected’ insertions in the code of A, G, T, and C that explain how this virus could not have evolved naturally. Cue political posturing against China, with calls for an inquiry, trade sanctions and even reparations.”

The author of this piece is Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance which funded research experiments conducted by his collaborator Shi Zhengli, a virologist at the Wuhan Institute who specializes in SARS-like coronaviruses. 

Politifact (September 2020): Tucker Carlson Guest Airs Debunked Conspiracy Theory That Covid-19 Was Created in a Lab

Their ruling: “The claim is inaccurate and ridiculous. We rate it Pants on Fire!”

Business Insider (October 2020): 23% of Americans Think the Coronavirus was Created in a Chinese Lab. Here’s Why That Conspiracy Theory Is Bogus.

And one year later, May 2021, Politifact has retracted its factcheck “pending a more thorough review.” They’re not alone; across the news world, practically in unison, the media are suddenly willing to discuss the possibility that Covid-19 escaped from a lab and weigh the evidence. Is it because President Trump has been safely defeated for re-election, or because the truth has become just too obvious to suppress?  Headlines from just the past few weeks: 

Medium (May 2, 2021): Following the Origins of Covid

This article, by former New York Times science writer Nicholas Wade, is credited for opening Pandora’s box. 

Business Insider (May 14, 2021): A Lab Leak in Wuhan Remains a Viable Theory for the Coronavirus Origin

Washington Post Opinion (May 6, 2021): Congress is Finally Investigating the Lab Accident Covid-19 Story 

NY Post: The Theory That Covid-19 Escaped from a Lab May Not be So Far-Fetched

This one is also by Nicholas Wade, and notes Peter Daszak’s funding for coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and then shows how he tried to cover his own tracks.

Excerpt: “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin,” a group of virologists and others wrote in The Lancet on Feb. 19, 2020, when it was really far too soon for anyone to be sure what had happened…. It later turned out that the Lancet letter had been organized and drafted by Peter Daszak.

Where was this information a year ago and why did they hide it from us? 

A person with natural curiosity will have questions about that too: was it so politically critical that the establishment remove Trump from office that whatever he said, they needed to dispute? Were our health functionaries, including Fauci, trying to cover their own butts regarding their involvement in coronavirus research? Are we in so deep with the Chinese that we are afraid to cross them? 

The media have defended their fact-checkers and experts as the guardians against misinformation in our information-abundant world. They want us to listen to and trust the “authorities,” those who have access to more, and better, and possibly non-public information. But the media are actively creating the environment of distrust they continually bemoan. There are only so many times you can smear your dissenters as crazy conspiracy theorists, but then have to admit they might be right, before those people will start to assume that’s always the case. 

A few days ago, David Frum wrote for The Atlantic that “Pro-Trumpers” are turning the “coronavirus lab-leak theory into a potent political tool.” He goes on to say that Republicans have no desire to seek the truth, and therefore the only way to beat the Republicans, who he argues are the only ones trying to politicize this situation, is to tell the truth. He writes: “if the truth is ambiguous, then it’s OK to say that too.” 

I disagree with everything he wrote except for that last line: lay out the facts, tell us what you know and what you don’t know, then trust people to draw their own conclusions. Anytime the press is unwilling to do that, I start to suspect they have too much at stake. And then I want to know what’s behind the curtain. 

It makes me wonder: how long will it be until we’re allowed to ask questions about the most secure election in U.S. history? The press has been dead wrong time and again, from the “Russia collusion” story to the Hunter Biden laptop. And now it’s the Covid-19 origins. They’ve blown a hole in their credibility each time. After this latest 180 degree pivot, the momentum is on our side. Let’s keep holding their feet to the fire until we get answers.