- US occupying forces in northern Syria are continuing to plunder natural resources and farmland, a practice ongoing since 2011
- Recently, US troops smuggled dozens of tanker trucks loaded with Syrian crude oil to their bases in Iraq.
- The fuel and convoys of Syrian wheat were transported through the illegal settlement of Mahmoudia.
- Witnesses report a caravan of 69 tankers loaded with oil and 45 with wheat stolen from silos in Yarubieh city.
- Similar acts of looting occurred on the 19th of the month in the city of Hasakeh, where 45 tankers of Syrian oil were taken out by US forces.
- Prior to the war and US invasion, Syria produced over 380 thousand barrels of crude oil per day, but this has drastically reduced to only 15 thousand barrels per day.
- The country’s oil production now covers only five percent of its needs, with the remaining 95 percent imported amidst difficulties due to the US blockade.
- The US and EU blockade prevents the entry of medicines, food, supplies, and impedes technological and industrial development in Syria.
We can talk about how it assesses factuality, but it’s not really relevant to my particular use of MBFC, since I quoted how the media of the OP is funded, which is incredibly relevant.
The existence of op-eds and their content is a useful indicator of where a particular media entity sits. Their editorial standards also reflect the kind of language a source routinely allowed. It’s a good indication of what the outlet is willing to publish.
What is your critique with how it states it samples? It’s a sample of a media source for a qualitative and subjective assessment. I, too would like to know more about how it samples, but I can also see the framework that it follows to assess factuality and confirm or dispute it through a quick look at the headlines and by skimming through some stories, if it seems warranted (though I admit, when it comes to sensationalized headlines and incendiary language, or an obvious government agenda I won’t necessarily do all my due diligence to assess a media source… like I did with the OP).
As for your specific concerns about factuality, you chose some random articles and engaged with them specifically but didn’t link them here, so I’m not going to do your job and go and find the thing you’re talking about.
To your last comment: it’s not always trivial to do the legwork. There is a lot of media out there, and it’s just getting more and more overwhelming. MBFC is just a tool. You have to be aware of the dangers when using a tool. Your critiques are all somewhat valid, but you’re advocating for throwing out a useful tool for media literacy because it’s not perfect.
It’s entirely relevant. If a source is bad as a whole, the foundation of trust you evidently have for it is built on sand.