NewsGuard

smobserved.com
A Santa Monica, California-based site that has published inaccurate and
misleading claims about COVID-19 and U.S. politics.

44.5 / 100
Proceed with caution: This website fails to adhere to several basic journalistic standards.

Does not repeatedly publish false content 22 points

Gathers and presents information responsibly 18

Regularly corrects or clarifies errors 12.5

Handles the difference between news and opinion responsibly 12.5

Avoids deceptive headlines 10

Website discloses ownership and financing 7.5

Clearly labels advertising 7.5

Reveals who's in charge, including any possible conflicts of interest 5

The site provides names of content creators, along with either contact or
biographical information 5

newsguardtech.com
Ownership and Financing NewsGuard

The exact ownership of the Santa Monica Observer is unclear. The site’s domain
name is registered to Santa Monica Observer Newspaper, a privately held
company incorporated in the state of California in July 2021. However, a
copyright notice on the Santa Monica Observer’s site credits SMMC LLC. This
could refer to Santa Monica Media Company, which registered with the state in
2008, but is now listed as suspended in state business records.
Santa Monica Observer Newspaper and Santa Monica Media Company were
both registered by David Ganezer, who is named as the Observer’s publisher on
the site’s About page. Ganezer ran unsuccessfully for seats on the Santa Monica
City Council in 1988 and 2010.
The site carries advertisements and links to a similar-looking site,
SMObserver.com, which charges for publishing legal notices. A free print edition
of the Observer is published weekly.

Content
According to the site’s About page, “The Newspaper and its content website,
www.smobserved.com, do not shy from controversy. In general, we look at Santa
Monica's neoliberal politics with skepticism. Our motto is ‘Community, Diversity,
Sustainability and other Overused Words.’ But we do not adhere to any party
line.”
SMObserved.com publishes a mix of local and national news. Local stories often
cover crime and politics in Santa Monica. Sections on the site include Opinion,
Lifestyle, Politics, Crime, and Schools. 

Credibility
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In earlier reviews of SMObserved.com, NewsGuard found the site repeatedly
published false claims about politics and other issues. In October 2022
and November 2021, NewsGuard did not find multiple examples of significantly
false content published in the last year. However, the site has continued to
publish a number of false and misleading claims, and older false claims on the
site remain uncorrected. NewsGuard

For example, after the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul
Pelosi in October 2022, SMObserved.com published an opinion article on Oct. 29
titled “The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And In a Dispute With a Male
Prostitute Early Friday Morning.” The article, which advanced the baseless claim
that the alleged assailant was a “male prostitute,” was posted on Twitter by the
platform’s owner Elon Musk. Musk subsequently deleted the post after an intense
social media backlash.
The article began by stating: “As SF’s gay bars closed at 2 am, two gay men met in
a bar and went home together. Happens every night in the City by the Bay. Except
one of these two men was married to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi… [H]ere’s what
really happened early Friday morning in San Francisco. IMHO--in my humble
opinion.”
Beyond the explosive and unsubstantiated claim about the suspect, the article
included multiple demonstrably false claims. For example, the article claimed
that the alleged assailant, 42-year-old David DePape, “was in his underwear”
during the attack. This claim appears to have originated from local Fox affiliate
KTVU, which misreported that DePape had been in underwear when police
arrived at the scene. KTVU subsequently corrected the article and added a note
stating, “CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated what clothing
the suspect was wearing when officers found him.”
The SMObserved.com article also claimed that “the cops broke the sliding glass
door to get in” to Pelosi’s residence. Citing an unnamed source, the article said:
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“‘How would (suspect Depape) have been able to break a window that [sic]
without triggering an alarm? He didn’t. The police broke the window to gain
entry.’” However, according to San Francisco Police Chief William Scott, “DePape
forced entry into a rear door at the rear of the Pelosi home,” Scott said during a
press conference. NewsGuard

The article also inaccurately suggested that Paul Pelosi did not call the police,
stating, “Who called 911 to initiate a wellness check? Either Nancy or her staff,
who hadn’t hear [sic] from Paul all evening and suddenly it’s 2 am.” However,
according to the audio of the dispatch call directing police to the Pelosi
residence, San Francisco authorities, and numerous press accounts, Paul Pelosi
called 911 and spoke to the dispatcher from his bathroom.
After an outcry, the site on Oct. 30 appended a note at the top of the article
stating: “Update 10/30: In response to this story, San Francisco Police said today
that victim Pelosi and suspect Depape, did not know each other prior to the
attack. SFPD reaffirmed that the assault followed a break-in.” 
On Nov. 1, 2022, the site took down the text of the article and added the following
note on the page where the article originally ran: “Update 11/1/22: The original
version of this article, which I presented as opinion and not a statement of
proven facts, has been removed from our website at the request of the
prosecutor’s office. We wish Paul Pelosi a quick and easy recovery from serious
injuries that he suffered during this heinous crime. We wish his family the best! If
you were offended by our original article, we wish you a speedy recovery as well.
There are some opinions that some folks just can’t handle, I suppose. More facts
have come to light about this crime as authorities investigate it further. Hopefully
yet more details about a horrid attack on an innocent family member of an
important US official, will come to light after the election.”
SMObserved.com has also advanced false and misleading claims about COVID-
19 and vaccines. For example, an October 2022 article, headlined “We Like the
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New California Law Punishing Doctors for Delivering Covid-19 Misinformation:
Here’s Why,” advanced the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines make people more
likely to be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
NewsGuard

The article’s subheadline was “Doctors pushed Covid boosters that increased the
likelihood patients would contract Covid; they should be punished.” The article
went on to state that, “Kaiser Permanente did a study on over 120,000 insurance
enrollees and found that the thrice-vaccinated were more likely to get COVID
than the unvaccinated.”
The claim from SMObserved.com that booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines
“increased the likelihood patients would contract COVID” misrepresented a
finding in the study that reported more COVID-19 infections among the
vaccinated 150 days or more after their last vaccine dose. However, the study’s
lead author, Hung Fu Tseng, a senior scientist in the Kaiser Permanente
Department of Research and Evaluation, told NewsGuard in an October 2022
email that this result reflected how the vaccines’ protection against infection
wanes over time.  
“Your risk of contracting COVID does not increase because you have received the
vaccine,” Tseng told NewsGuard. “However, regular boosters are necessary to
continue the protection against infection and hospitalization provided by
COVID-19 vaccinations. People who have been vaccinated and boosted likely
participate in more risky public health behaviors such as gathering in crowded
indoor areas, putting themselves at risk of infection after the vaccine protection
has waned.”
The site did not immediately respond to an October 2022 NewsGuard inquiry
asking about the above false and misleading claims.
A March 2021, article, titled “Inmate at California Women's Prison Infected with
Covid After Receiving Both Vaccine Shots,” claimed that the California
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Institution for Women in Corona, California, was under a COVID-19 lockdown that
was due to a case traced to an inmate who had been fully vaccinated against
COVID-19. “My source about the women sick with covid already having had both
shots is a correctional officer. Not an inmate,” the article stated. “Officers like to
gossip and spread news as much as the rest of us. However, info from officers
tends to be more valid as they have access to direct knowledge of how and why
this medical lockdown/quarantine is happening.” NewsGuard

It would be possible for a fully vaccinated person to be infected with COVID-19,

as no COVID-19 vaccine has been found to be 100 percent effective against
preventing infection. However, Terry Thornton, deputy press secretary for the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told NewsGuard in an
October 2021 email that the California Institution for Women was not under a
COVID-19 lockdown close to the time that the article was published. “CIW was
out of an outbreak in mid-February and did not experience another outbreak
until Sept. 9,” Thornton said.
A September 2021 about the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election, titled
“On California Recall Ballot, A Yes Vote is Clearly Visible through the Return Mail
Envelope,” stated that, “the envelope provided to mail in your ballots, has 2 holes
in it. One can see whether the Voter voted ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ through those holes. And
we thought ballots in the United States were supposed to be secret!” 
The article goes on to suggest that something nefarious was occurring. “The
California Secretary of State and the LA County Registrar of Voters, of course run
by Democrats, have run public service announcements on local TV stations
intended to shore up faith in this election. This tends to poke holes in that faith
for us doubting Thomases. Just saying.”
However, the article omitted the fact that the holes were not designed to identify
“yes” or “no” votes in the 2021 recall election. The holes have “been part of the

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envelope design for years,” according to an August 2021 tweet from the official
account of Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
NewsGuard

Election officials use the holes to visually check whether there is a ballot inside
the envelope, “so that they know the ballot has been extracted and not left inside
an envelope uncounted,” California Secretary of State’s office spokesperson
Jenna Dresner told FactCheck.org. The holes also provide an aid for people with
vision problems to find the ballot signature line on the envelope.
Ballot designs vary from county to county in California, and if the holes in the
envelope happened to align with a “yes” or “no” vote on the recall ballot, voters
could adjust how their ballot was placed in the envelope. “Voters have control as
to how they place the ballot in the envelope,” Donna Johnston, president of the
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials, told Sacramento’s KTXL-
TV in August 2021. “Some counties have a completely blank side of the ballot
they can fold in that direction so there’s absolutely nothing showing when they
place it in the envelope, some of the holes do not correspond with county
envelopes with any information on the ballot whatsoever.”
Older articles with significantly false claims remain on the site uncorrected as of
October 2021. An April 2020 article headlined “Ayyaddurai: Coronavirus Was
Created by China to Control Hong Kong, & Spread by the Deep State to Control
You,” quoted a YouTube video by Shiva Ayyadurai, an engineer who ran
unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate in Massachusetts in 2018 and 2020. In the video,
Ayyadurai promoted sunlight as a remedy for the COVID-19 virus, based on the
low number of COVID-19 cases in the African nation of Chad. “If you just get out
in the sun like they do, you will beat this and many other viruses,” Ayyadurai said.
In fact, there is no evidence that exposure to sunlight can kill the coronavirus in
people, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Penny Ward, a
visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at Kings College London, said on
BBC.com in April 2020: “UV irradiation and high heat are known to kill virus
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particles on surfaces," but "neither sitting in the sun, nor heating, will kill a virus
replicating in an individual patient's internal organs.” NewsGuard

In the same SMObserved.com article, Ayyadurai claimed that the pandemic was
part of a plan. “Coronavirus has been well planned to achieve all the aims of the
deep state,” he said. “Eliminate borders, cashless society, go to negative interest
rates so they own all our money. Everything is monitored, in a 5G rule to put
capers everywhere so you can understand what people are saying and suppress
free speech.” The article provided no evidence for any of these claims.
In a May 2020 article, titled “Robert Kennedy accuses Bill Gates of Using Covid19
to Further a Nefarious Vaccine Agenda for World Domination,” SMObserved.com
republished false claims about Microsoft co-founder and multibillionaire Bill
Gates that were made in an Instagram post by anti-vaccine activist Robert F.
Kennedy Jr.
The article quoted Kennedy’s post as stating, “Promising to eradicate Polio with
$1.2 billion, Gates took control of India 's National Advisory Board (NAB) and
mandated 50 polio vaccines (up from 5) to every child before age 5. Indian
doctors blame the Gates campaign for a devastating vaccine-strain polio
epidemic that paralyzed 496,000 children between 2000 and 2017.” The article
did not include any information that refuted Kennedy’s claim about the polio
vaccine program in India.
There is no evidence that the polio vaccine program in India funded by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation caused widespread paralysis, according to
articles from fact-checking websites Full Fact and PolitiFact. Contrary to
Kennedy’s claim that the vaccine caused a “vaccine-strain polio epidemic,” the
World Health Organization reported 17 cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus cases
in India between 2000 and 2017.

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In an August 2020 article, the site reported that Robert Trump, the younger
brother of President Donald Trump, had died “after a fall and a cerebral
hemorrhage. He also developed COVID-19 and complications of coronavirus
while in the hospital.”
NewsGuard

The site provided no source for the claim that Robert Trump had developed
COVID-19, and there is no evidence that he did. Robert Trump’s cause of death
was not made public.
In 2018 and 2019, Santa Monica Observer published a mix of false claims and
unfounded speculation about the health of then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In a September 2018 article headlined “Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg Will Retire from the US Supreme Court in January 2019,” the site
claimed that Ginsburg “has had a re-occurrence of malignant melanoma,” and
would retire in January 2019.
Ginsburg did undergo surgery to remove a cancerous growth from her left lung in
December 2018, which the Santa Monica Observer cited to boast that it was the
first to break the story. In fact, its initial report mentioned a different type of
cancer and incorrectly asserted that Ginsburg would retire.
In an update to the Ginsburg article posted on Jan. 15, 2019, the site claimed that
Ginsburg’s cancer “has come out of remission” and that she has been “stricken
with pneumonia,” again predicting incorrectly that she would retire by the end of
the month. Another article, posted on Jan. 19, 2019, said Ginsburg “remains in a
hospital fighting pneumonia.”
In fact, Ginsburg was released from the hospital on Dec. 25, 2018, according to a
Supreme Court spokesperson, who said that her “post-surgery evaluation
indicates no evidence of remaining disease, and no further treatment is
required.” While Ginsburg missed two weeks of oral arguments in the wake of her

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surgery, she continued to perform her duties by reading briefs at home,
according to the Court.
NewsGuard

Despite these inaccuracies, the website continued to promote its original

September 2018 story on the site. When the Supreme Court announced in
August 2019 that Ginsburg was being treated for pancreatic cancer, the website
republished the September 2018 story under the headline “Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg's Office Announces She Has Pancreatic Cancer. US Supreme Court
Fight Looms,” even though the article did not state that she was being treated for
pancreatic cancer.
An editor’s note on the version of the article republished in August 2019 stated:
“We first posted this story in September, 2018. Sadly we were correct, as Justice
Ginsburg underwent surgery on December 15th to remove a cancerous growth
from her lungs. We are reposting it since so many people contacted us to ask if it
was true that she has pancreatic cancer, which sadly, it is.”
As of October 2021, SMObserved.com’s About page claimed that the website
“broke the story of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer
surgery.” Ginsburg died in September 2021 from complications of pancreatic
cancer.
Other false claims published by the site include a December 2016 article
headlined “Kanye West Appointed Under-Secretary of the Interior After Meeting
at Trump Tower.” West did meet with Donald Trump, then the president-elect, in
December 2016, but Trump did not nominate West to any position in his
administration. Technically, there is no “Under-Secretary of the Interior,” as the
title of that position was changed to U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior in
November 1990.
The site also published numerous stories promoting false claims related to
Hillary Clinton’s health during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. A September
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24, 2016, article titled “Hillary Clinton Died on Sept. 11, Actually. That was her
Body Double in Front of Chelsea's,” recounts multiple conspiracy theories,
including the notion that Donald Trump was a “plant” to ensure that Clinton
would be elected. Those plans were abandoned, the article states, after Clinton
died on September.11, 2016. The article stated: “What spoiled it, was Hillary's
untimely death on 9/11. Now, it is being reworked to ensure a third term of Barack
Obama.” NewsGuard

In a story posted four days later, titled “Bedridden, Sick Hillary Clinton Sends
Body Double to Debate Donald Trump,” the site did not repeat its claim that
Clinton had died, but instead falsely claimed that Clinton “will send one of her
famous body doubles to Hofstra University to debate” Donald Trump.
The site also has published false stories that are not related to politics. A
November 2018 article headlined “#conspiracytheory: Did Borderline Shooter
Also Set the West Hills and Woolsey Fires?” suggested that Ian David Long, who
allegedly killed 12 people at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, was also
responsible for a wildfire in the area because the timing “seems too
coincidental.” The Woolsey and Hill Fires (no 2018 fire in California appears to
have been called the “West Hill Fire”), were both first reported around 2 p.m. on
Nov. 8, 2018, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Long had been found
dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound earlier that morning.  
In 2019, one of the site’s speculative stories ended up being proven accurate.
According to a July 2019 article from entertainment news site Deadline, Santa
Monica Observer reporter Stan Greene suggested in an article that Los Angeles
Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs had died of an opioid overdose, stating that police
had found drugs in the pitcher’s Texas hotel room. Angels spokesperson Marie
Garvey released a statement saying the article was “categorically incorrect” and
that the cause of death of Skaggs was still under investigation.

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Skaggs’ autopsy later determined that he died by choking on his own vomit after
taking a combination of opioids and alcohol, according to an August 2019 article
in the Los Angeles Times. NewsGuard

Because the Santa Monica Observer has stopped frequently publishing false

information, and because the only demonstrably false article that NewsGuard
found on the site in the year before its November 2022 review was subsequently
removed and appended with a correction note, NewsGuard has determined that
the website now meets its standard for not repeatedly publishing false content
and avoiding deceptive headlines. However, because the site has continued to
publish some false and misleading claims, and older content with significantly
false claims remains on the site without having been corrected, NewsGuard has
determined that the site fails to gather and present information responsibly.
The site does not have a posted corrections policy. NewsGuard found two
corrections on the site published in April 2021 and July 2020. However, because
articles published in the past year making unsubstantiated or misleading claims,
and older articles making false claims, remain uncorrected on the site,
SMObserved.com does not meet NewsGuard’s standard for having effective
corrections practices.
The About page on SMObserved.com states that “In general, we look at Santa
Monica's neoliberal politics with skepticism. Our motto is ‘Community, Diversity,
Sustainability and other Overused Words.’ But we do not adhere to any party
line.”
While the site has a separate Opinion section, articles outside that section often
include opinion.
For example, an October 2022 article, published in the site’s News section and
headlined “Gas is $7 a Gallon in California. So Why is Gov. Gavin Newsom Ahead
by 20 Points in the Polls?,” criticized Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom
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and his energy policies. “Gas is so expensive in California, mostly due to
regulation that isn’t necessary any more, or never was,” the article said. “[W]hy in
the heck are you people planning to re-elect Gov. Gavin Newsom for another 4
years? Why not take a chance with the Republican candidate, who happens to be
a super nice guy.” NewsGuard

A September 2021 article, published in the site’s News section and headlined “LA
Times Downplays Homeless Attack On Larry Elder, In An Attempt to Boost
Newsom,” criticized the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of an incident in which an
egg was thrown by an unidentified woman at Elder, a Republican candidate in
California’s 2021 gubernatorial recall election. “The same newspaper that called
Larry Elder ‘The Black Face of White Supremacy’ pretty much ignores a racist
attack on a Republican,” the article stated.
A July 2021 article, published in the site’s News section and titled “Affordable
Housing Makes More Sense than Parking Downtown Says Santa Monica City
Council in 4-3 Vote,” criticized the council for voting to replace a parking
structure with affordable housing. “Locals will ride their bicycles to the
Promenade, with their children and elderly parents between the handlebars,” the
article stated. “And the drug-addicted vagrants who've come here for the free
handouts and soft crime laws will get the help they need, dry out, and become
model citizens.”
Because SMObserved.com often publishes opinionated content outside of its
dedicated Opinion section, NewsGuard has determined that the site does not
handle the difference between news and opinion responsibly.
In October 2021, an unnamed person responded to NewsGuard’s email sent to
the site’s general email address, stating, “Why on earth would anyone respond to
a left wing website like yours? Just saying. All due respect.” The respondent did
not answer NewsGuard’s questions about the site’s editorial standards, approach
to corrections, and handling of opinion.
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Transparency
The site does not disclose its ownership. Ganezer is identified as the Observer’s
publisher on its About page. The site provides the Observer’s mailing address, a
general email address, and a general contact form.   NewsGuard

Articles are inconsistent in identifying their authors. Some stories include no

byline or credit only “Observer staff,” while others name the author and include a
photo, without providing any biographical or contact information.
SantaMonicaNext.com, a liberal-leaning local news blog, reported in a December
2016 article that photos provided for the site’s content creators may not be
legitimate. SantaMonicaNext.com found that articles credited to Sarah Storkin,
identified as the site’s editor and designer, appeared to use a photo from the
resume of a Straffordshire, England, college student with a similar name. The
same photo continued to accompany articles credited to Storkin in February
2019. Fact-checking site Snopes.com reported in November 2018 that Ganezer
acknowledged that Observer writers can use pseudonyms.
Advertisements and sponsored content are distinguishable from editorial
content.

History
The Santa Monica Observer was founded by publisher David Ganezer in 1998,
according to an older version of the site’s About page. According to the State Bar
of California, Ganezer gave up his law license in 2001, after a Bar review
concluded that his handling of client funds was “grossly careless and negligent.”
Editor’s Note: This Nutrition Label was updated on Nov. 1, 2022, and Oct. 31, 2022,
to add information about the site’s reporting on the attack on the husband of
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It was previously updated on Nov. 3, 2021, and on
Sept. 8, 2020.
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Written by: John Gregory
Contributing: Lorenzo Arvanitis
Edited by: Kendrick McDonald, Eric Effron

Sources NewsGuard

Ownership and Financing

Ran for City Council in 2010:
https://www.smdp.com/meet-the-city-council-candidates-david-ganezer/77182
2010 candidate statement from Ganezer:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110208104229/http://ganezer2010.com/
https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/Clerk/Elections/2010/City_C
ouncil/DGanezer.pdf
https://smmirror.com/2010/09/david-ganezer-city-council-candidate/
Ganezer as a former attorney:
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Licensee/Detail/134337
Santa Monica Media Company, registered in June 2008:
https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=200815410061-
751375
Santa Monica Observer Newspaper Inc. registration from 2000:
https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=02223506-
4815827
https://www.smobserved.com/advertise
https://smobserver.com/send-me-a-notary/
https://smobserver.com/publish-name-change-petition/
https://smobserver.com/publish-your-d-b-a/
Santa Monica Observer Newspaper registration from 2021:
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/4768187
https://www.whois.com/whois/smobserved.com

Content
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https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/09/09/news/trump-strikes-blow-at-
critical-race-theory-for-anti-american-curricula-threatens-to-cut-federal-
funding/4887.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/08/06/politics/santa-monica-plaza-
project-moves-forward/4812.html NewsGuard

https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/07/26/news/goodbye-california-
zoning-laws-as-legislature-makes-authoritarian-grab-for-land-control-with-9-
proposals/4792.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/01/07/news/judge-rules-santa-
monica-city-council-should-be-elected-by-districts/3778.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/01/25/news/tragic-stabbing-in-
sunset-park-say-santa-monica-police-tranquil-neighborhood-
stunned/3793.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/12/13/news/gleam-davis-elected-new-
santa-monica-mayor/3755.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/09/news/sm-landmarks-
commission-to-consider-historic-district-for-11th-street-bungalows/3703.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/12/09/news/mountain-lion-p-64-
survives-the-woolsey-fire-but-dies-from-burns-on-his-paws/3748.html
https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/news/mountain-lion-survives-flames-but-dies-
weeks-afterward.htm
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/01/19/opinion/letters-landlords-will-
use-city-council-re-districting-lawsuit-to-end-rent-control/3791.html
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/santamonicacitycalifornia,US/PST
045217
John McCain story:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190122205714/https://www.smobserved.com/sto
ry/2018/07/02/news/john-mccain-to-resign-senate-seat-on-the-4th-of-july-
says-aide-cindy-mccain-offered-his-seat/3517.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/02/08/news/sen-kamala-harris-
proposing-crime-and-homelessness-for-the-entire-country/3812.html

Credibility
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Paul Pelosi article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20221030185715/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2022/10/31/opinion/the-awful-truth-paul-pelosi-was-drunk-again-and-in-a-
dispute-with-a-male-prostitute-early-friday-morning/7191.html
https://www.ktvu.com/news/alleged-pelosi-intruder-has-manifesto-of-
conspiracy-theories-sources NewsGuard
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-speaker-pelosis-husband-
violently-assaulted-pelosi-statement-2022-10-28/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nancy-pelosis-husband-attacked-
know-david-depape-suspect-rcna54588
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-29/paul-pelosi-attacker-
police-hammer-nancy-pelosi-san-francisco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SexFaoFPa0
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/30/paul-pelosi-attack-called-
911-from-bathroom
Vaccinated more likely to get omicron:
https://web.archive.org/web/20221027091721/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2022/10/27/opinion/we-like-the-new-california-law-punishing-doctors-for-
delivering-covid-19-misinformation-heres-why/7173.html
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.09.30.22280573v1.full.pdf
https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/covid-19-vaccine-boosters-reduce-
risk-infection-hospitalization-dont-increase-risk-contrary-claims-of-vaccines-
negative-efficacy/
https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2022/10/fact-check-kaiser-did-not-admit-
infection-increases-with-each-shot.html
California ballot fraud claim:
https://web.archive.org/web/20211025194234/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2021/09/10/politics/on-california-recall-ballot-a-yes-vote-is-clearly-visible-
through-the-return-mail-envelope/5977.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/technology/recall-election-california-
rumors-newsom.html
https://fox40.com/inside-california-politics/recall-election-why-some-ballot-
envelopes-have-holes-in-them/
newsguardtech.com
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/exposing-the-holes-in-a-california-recall-
election-conspiracy-theory/ NewsGuard
https://twitter.com/LACountyRRCC/status/1428532679109054466?
ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E142853267910
9054466%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews
.com%2Fpolitics%2Fla-officials-concerns-voter-fraud-mail-in-ballots-holes-
recall
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/verify/voter-confidentiality-not-
compromised-holes-ballot/103-f98f13ac-9570-4054-8933-919cc9cb0929
Prison COVID outbreak:
https://web.archive.org/web/20211101152250/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2021/03/23/news/inmate-at-california-womens-prison-infected-with-covid-
after-receiving-both-vaccine-shots/5452.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2021/03/23/news/inmate-at-california-
womens-prison-infected-with-covid-after-receiving-both-vaccine-
shots/5452.html
Coronavirus:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200416111157/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2020/04/16/politics/ayyaddurai-coronavirus-was-created-by-china-to-
control-hong-kong-and-spread-by-the-deep-state-to-control-you/4577.html
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-
public/myth-busters#uv
https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/sun-protection/protect/can-sunlight-
kill-coronavirus
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52399464
RFK Jr. story:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200607033221/https://www.smobserved.com/st
ory/2020/05/27/politics/robert-kennedy-accuses-bill-gates-of-using-covid19-
to-further-a-nefarious-vaccine-agenda-for-world-domination/4652.html
https://fullfact.org/online/gates-polio-vaccine/
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/23/facebook-posts/anti-
vaxxers-spread-conspiracy-about-bill-gates-an/

newsguardtech.com
https://factcheck.afp.com/gates-foundation-targeted-misleading-claims-
about-india-polio-vaccine-campaign
Robert Trump story:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200908173753/https://www.smobserved.com/st
ory/2020/08/16/news/president-trumps-younger-brother-robert-trump-has-
died-at-71-of-a-cerebral-hemorrhage/4850.html NewsGuard

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/15/us/politics/robert-s-trump-dead.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20190707235702/https://deadline.com/2019/07/tyle
r-skaggs-santa-monica-observer-opioids-obituary-1202642022/
Article explaining removal:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190708003641/https://www.smobserved.com/st
ory/2019/07/06/opinion/why-did-we-take-down-our-original-story-about-the-
death-of-a-ballplayer/4088.html
https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2019/July-
2019/07_03_2019_Local_Papers_Take_on_Former_Samohi_Stars_Death_Sparks_
Outrage.html
https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2019-08-30/tyler-skaggs-
autopsy-report-fentanyl-oxycodone-alcohol-angels-rusty-hardin
Post-autopsy article:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/09/04/news/tyler-skaggs-cause-of-
death-fentanyl-oxycodone-booze-and-choking-on-his-own-vomit/4173.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/10/20/news/report-tyler-skaggs-
purchased-the-drugs-that-killed-him-from-an-angels-pr-team-
member/4247.html
First Ginsburg story:
https://web.archive.org/web/20181010062428/https://www.smobserved.com/sto
ry/2018/09/27/politics/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-will-retire-from-the-us-
supreme-court-in-january-2019/3658.html
Updated in November 2018: http://archive.is/vbJzo
Jan. 15, 2019 updated Ginsburg story:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190122211454/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2018/11/29/politics/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-will-retire-from-the-us-
supreme-court-in-january-2019/3658.html
newsguardtech.com
Jan. 19, 2019 Ginsburg story:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190701062122/https://www.smobserved.com/sto
ry/2019/01/19/politics/sick-with-pneumonia-ruth-bader-ginsburg-fights-for-
her-life-setting-up-scotus-battle/3780.html
August 2019 story republished: NewsGuard

About page in Sept. 2020:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200908170252/https://www.smobserved.com/ab
out
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-recovery/
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg/index.html
https://www.inquisitr.com/5254187/ruth-bader-ginsburg-fights-for-her-life-
with-pneumonia-dodgy-website-claims/
https://web.archive.org/web/20170606233917/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/
online_books/tolson/histlist2.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20190118213749/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2016/12/16/news/kanye-west-appointed-under-secretary-of-the-interior-
after-meeting-at-trump-tower/2378.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20190122185934/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2016/09/28/politics/bedridden-sick-hillary-clinton-sends-body-double-to-
debate-donald-trump/2014.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/09/13/internet-thinks-
hillary-clinton-has-body-double/90297312/
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-barnwell-body-double/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/hillary-clinton-falls-ill-9-11-
memorial-n-y-n646376
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/09/24/politics/hillary-clinton-died-
on-sept-11-actually-that-was-her-body-double-in-front-of-chelseas/1951.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/09/27/politics/kavanaugh-
confirmation-hearings-as-if-on-cue-mainstream-media-narrative-shifts-to-its-
over/3655.html
https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/08/09/n
ews/alien-spacecraft-explodes-over-greenland-releasing-21-kilotons-of-
explosive-force/3583.html
newsguardtech.com
https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/08/no_a_meteor_did_not_destroy_a.ht
ml
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/08/03/no-a-meteor-
did-not-destroy-thule-air-base/
https://taskandpurpose.com/greenland-meteor-thule-air-base NewsGuard
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/us/politics/arizona-senate-mccain.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/12/22/crime/first-double-murder-in-
antarctica-under-investigation-by-new-zealand-police/3759.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-antarctic-casualties/no-foul-play-
suspected-in-deaths-of-two-workers-at-u-s-research-station-in-antarctica-
idUSKBN1OD03F
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/22/news/hpv-vaccines-prevent-
only-some-strains-cause-20-deaths/3720.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/05/03/here-is-how-we-
know-gardasil-has-not-killed-100-people/#1aef348b3590
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/infectious-agents/hpv/hpv-
vaccines.html
Identifies columnist at end of article:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2017/03/17/opinion/reckless-bill-to-repeal-
limits-on-rent-control-will-make-housing-crisis-worse/2723.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/06/politics/observer-
recommendations-for-santa-monica-election-nov-6th-time-for-a-
change/3688.html
https://ballotpedia.org/Santa_Monica,_California,_Measure_RR,_Board_and_Co
mmission_Eligibility_Charter_Amendment_(November_2018)
https://www.smvote.org/BallotMeasures/detail.aspx?id=53687102601
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/13/news/conspiracytheory-did-
borderline-shooter-also-set-the-west-hills-and-woolsey-fires/3709.html
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/09/map-of-woolsey-and-hill-fires-
highway-101-closed-malibu-evacuated/
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/california-shooting-intl/index.html

newsguardtech.com
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/01/news/mobster-whitey-bulger-
beaten-to-death-by-inmates-under-order-from-italian-mob-bosses/3695.html
Oct. 2022 news/opinion: NewsGuard
https://web.archive.org/web/20221030225046/https://www.smobserved.com/st
ory/2022/10/15/news/gas-is-7-a-gallon-in-california-so-why-is-gov-gavin-
newsom-ahead-by-20-points-in-the-polls/7153.html
Sept. 2021 news/opinion:
https://web.archive.org/web/20211025181536/https://www.smobserved.com/stor
y/2021/09/12/news/la-times-downplays-homeless-attack-on-larry-elder-in-an-
attempt-to-boost-newsom/5984.html
July 2021 news/opinion:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2021/07/20/news/affordable-housing-
makes-more-sense-than-parking-downtown-says-santa-monica-city-council-
in-4-3-vote/5837.html
News/opinion #1:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200908154151/https://www.smobserved.com/sto
ry/2020/09/09/politics/lets-divide-everyone-into-tribes-and-examine-why-
white-people-are-so-awful-ca-approves-marxist-ethnic-studies-
requirement/4879.html
News/opinion #2:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/05/12/politics/mr-gorbachev-tear-
down-this-wall-santa-monica-residents-lose-patience-with-irrational-
continuing-shutdowns/4638.html
News/opinion #3:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/04/12/news/bernie-sanders-drops-
out-virtually-assuring-a-trump-second-term-in-coronavirus-america/4574.html
July 2020 correction:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2020/07/06/news/dawit-kelete-27-
arrested-for-death-of-transgender-woman-on-i-5-freeway-in-
seattle/4743.html
April 2021 correction:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2021/04/07/opinion/lockdowns-were-a-
disaster-public-health-should-have-been-achieved-via-the-carrot-instead-of-
the-stick-santa-monica-shines-covid-19-assurance-program-is-almost-an-
example/5437.html newsguardtech.com
Transparency
https://www.smobserved.com/about
https://www.smobserved.com/contact
No byline: NewsGuard
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/25/news/large-sections-of-malibu-
repopulated-after-woolsey-fire-says-lasd/3728.html
No byline:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/29/news/former-us-president-
george-hw-bush-dead-at-the-age-of-94-in-texas/3735.html
No byline:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/06/news/smfd-responds-to-fire-at-
the-santa-monica-ymca/3701.html
Bio for opinion piece:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/07/25/opinion/like-being-hit-by-
lightning-prop-47-greatly-increased-property-crime-in-california/3553.html
http://www.santamonicanext.org/2016/12/fake-news-santa-monica-edition/
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/01/19/politics/snopescom-labels-
story-that-supreme-court-justice-ginsburg-has-cancer-as-fake-
news/3766.html
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/12/13/news/gleam-davis-elected-new-
santa-monica-mayor/3755.html
More recent story with Storkin picture:
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/11/11/news/over-13-million-allegedly-
lost-in-santa-monica-based-ponzi-scheme-by-now-dead-principal/3706.html

History
http://www.smdp.com/local-newspaper-hit-with-false-advertising-
claims/74525
https://web.archive.org/web/20140313123040/https://www.smobserved.com/ab
out
https://www.smobserved.com/story/2017/08/09/politics/former-santa-monica-
observer-intern-stephenmillersthetypeofguy/2499.html
newsguardtech.com
https://www.smobserved.com/about
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Licensee/Detail/134337
Background on publisher David Ganezer:
http://www.metnews.com/articles/2009/gane062409.htm
NewsGuard

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newsguardtech.com