Posted on Dec 8, 2016
How do you distinguish between fake news and real news?
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There are fake news sites and there are news sites that make fakes out of real news. Sadly, it's hard to tell the difference.
Some fake news sites are blatantly so. Wikipedia provides a pretty good list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_news_websites
Then there are the satirical sites. They're easy to spot as well. Duffleblog is well known on RP and we all have a good laugh when someone responds as though they were fooled by their "news" stories.
Opinion blogs often uncover real news that real news sites choose not to reveal but it's hard to distinguish when the news they uncover is real or fakes that fooled them. Sadly, opinion columnists and bloggers are just as quick as we are to accept as truth something that sounds plausible (it fits our ideological narrative)
So, who are the real journalists these days. Regrettably, there don't seem to be many. Once trusted sources such as the major daily newspapers and broadcast TV networks have fallen under the pall of ideology.
That brings me back to my original question: How do you distinguish between fake news and real news?
Some fake news sites are blatantly so. Wikipedia provides a pretty good list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_news_websites
Then there are the satirical sites. They're easy to spot as well. Duffleblog is well known on RP and we all have a good laugh when someone responds as though they were fooled by their "news" stories.
Opinion blogs often uncover real news that real news sites choose not to reveal but it's hard to distinguish when the news they uncover is real or fakes that fooled them. Sadly, opinion columnists and bloggers are just as quick as we are to accept as truth something that sounds plausible (it fits our ideological narrative)
So, who are the real journalists these days. Regrettably, there don't seem to be many. Once trusted sources such as the major daily newspapers and broadcast TV networks have fallen under the pall of ideology.
That brings me back to my original question: How do you distinguish between fake news and real news?
Journalism
Propaganda
Media
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 15
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TSgt David L.
Capt Seid Waddell - No worries. I've told COL Mikel J. Burroughs a few times that I don't care about the votes. I give them but don't need or expect any. If I can get a chuckle out of some folks then I've done my job.
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I've learned to distrust any story that seems counter intuitive to what I already believe to be true. The reality is that almost every news source in America has had to retract stories as either un-substantiated, based on false assumptions, complete fiction, or outright propaganda.
This is nothing new, this excerpt from Scientific American, claims that Benjamin Franklin even did.
"A Bag of Scalps
In 1782, Benjamin Franklin created a fake issue of a Boston newspaper. The main story was quite gruesome: it maintained that American forces had discovered bags of money and goods that appeared bound for the King, but included among them the scalps of soldiers and civilians. The bag of scalps included a letter addressed to the King asking him to accept the scalps as a token of friendship and loyalty. Franklin sent the newspaper to his friends, who forwarded it to their friends and soon enough the story had been republished in other colonial newspapers. There were signs the original document was a fake--the typeface, for example-- but these clues were lost in the sensationalism of the information. The public was outraged. In this case, Franklin's "news" added to the animosity directed against Native Americans and helped establish them as non-Americans who could not be trusted nor should be accepted in the new Republic. The story was resurrected at a later date as well as "evidence" of the depravity of Native Americans during the War of 1812."
This is nothing new, this excerpt from Scientific American, claims that Benjamin Franklin even did.
"A Bag of Scalps
In 1782, Benjamin Franklin created a fake issue of a Boston newspaper. The main story was quite gruesome: it maintained that American forces had discovered bags of money and goods that appeared bound for the King, but included among them the scalps of soldiers and civilians. The bag of scalps included a letter addressed to the King asking him to accept the scalps as a token of friendship and loyalty. Franklin sent the newspaper to his friends, who forwarded it to their friends and soon enough the story had been republished in other colonial newspapers. There were signs the original document was a fake--the typeface, for example-- but these clues were lost in the sensationalism of the information. The public was outraged. In this case, Franklin's "news" added to the animosity directed against Native Americans and helped establish them as non-Americans who could not be trusted nor should be accepted in the new Republic. The story was resurrected at a later date as well as "evidence" of the depravity of Native Americans during the War of 1812."
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I handle news much like I do information gathered during Civil Reconaissance - if it is from only one source, it isn't a fact. Even well-intentioned sources get the facts wrong at times. That is why it is important that before you make a decision or form an opinion, your information gets double-checked elsewhere to confirm it.
Also, bias is very prevalent in news outlets of all types, the internet most of all. What is reported may be true, but it is filtered in such a way as to present them in a manner that furthers an agenda. If information looks demonstrably favorable or unfavorable to a given point of view, it is probably not the whole story.
A cursory check of the author is often informative when trying to determine the veracity of a news report. If you aren't sure, check that out.
Also, bias is very prevalent in news outlets of all types, the internet most of all. What is reported may be true, but it is filtered in such a way as to present them in a manner that furthers an agenda. If information looks demonstrably favorable or unfavorable to a given point of view, it is probably not the whole story.
A cursory check of the author is often informative when trying to determine the veracity of a news report. If you aren't sure, check that out.
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