“The sun will come out tomorrow..”, sings Annie.
That is a fact that is indisputably true, like babies needing to be born, bells that can’t be un-rung, and World Series titles that have never been won by the San Diego Padres.
These are facts.
It used to be that investigative work was characterized by Dragnet detective Sgt. Joe Friday’s famous instruction, “Just the facts, M’aam…” Not opinion, not gossip, not belief…just tell me what actually happened.
I took Journalism in college. The first thing that is drummed into a prospective reporter’s minds is to focus on the Five W’s: “Who?”, “What?”, “Where?”, “When?”, and “Why?”. If you can answer those objectively, then you have a story. That is, if you want to have credibility (i.e. being trusted and believed in) and veracity (i.e. adherence to the truth).
At least, that used to be the way things were. The public expected that the news they got from reporters (print or broadcast media) was legit, an honest portrayal of what was actually happening out in the real world. They could read fiction or comic books, or watch sci-fi movies for the other stuff: that was entertainment…certainly, it wasn’t news.
Nowadays, there seems to be great skepticism that the news being disseminated to the masses is factual. The claim has been made by many people (on a daily basis by our current President) that much of what is purveyed by the media is “fake news”, stuff that’s made up, information that is biased, propaganda meant to influence the reader, etc. It’s not to be trusted.
Fake is a pretty strong term. By definition it means “not genuine; counterfeit; a forgery; a sham”. The word implies an intent to deceive, rather than the commission of a mistake.
If I were to report that Joe Blow was born in 1951, when it was actually 1952, that would be an error…not fake news. However, if someone was to prove that I made that mistake in order to justify some slanted story, then that would be dishonest journalism, at the least, and maybe “fake” in someone’s mind.
A problem that we have in our current society is the proliferation of gossip (i.e. casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true) and rumor (i.e. a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth). Gossiping and rumor mongering have been around as long as human beings could think and talk. They both can be unfair, hurtful, and, of course, groundless (as in fact-less).
It is a sad reflection on society, in general, that gossip and rumor have become a surrogate for factual news, and that large swaths of humankind are seemingly addicted to fantastic, salacious, and conspiratorial “news” of this sort.
In today’s world, technology has enabled such non-factual information to be disseminated world-wide, in an instant, and then passed along, through social media and other Internet apps, to gullible individuals, who then pass it off to their “contacts” as factual information. As someone once said, “Information is power.” Just imagine the influence a planted, non-factual story, meant to smear someone, has when it shows up in a couple of million Facebook accounts. Just ask Vladimir Putin…
As Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, once said, “A man’s judgment cannot be better than the information on which he has based it.” No shit.
This is the reality we now live with: technology has developed faster than society’s ability to use it wisely. Thanks to the Internet of Things, we are being bombarded with information, and many, if not most, people are not capable of winnowing the truth from the chaff of gossip, rumor, innuendo, and outright, fabricated jibber-jabber.
Every human being has an opinion about something, and some people have a lot of them. Opinion is a belief or conclusion held with confidence but not necessarily substantiated by positive knowledge or proof. In other words, opinions can be wrong.
“Public opinion” usually derives from a skimpy understanding of the facts of a matter: some people are well-informed, and others don’t have any information with which to judge, and, still, others have a prejudiced view of the topic. So, public opinion is a mixed-bag of understandings and biases. Public opinion doesn’t mean much except… at election time. Sadly, votes don’t rely on facts.
Unfortunately, those individuals with the most opinions often are supported by the fewest facts. As Bertrand Russell, the philosopher, once said, “The stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt.” The corollary to that is “He who knows nothing doubts nothing.”
So, where does one go to find out the truth?
That’s a good question, I think. In my opinion, one should try to separate professional journalists (the Five W folks) from the entertainers. It’s really pretty easy to spot the latter: they put labels on people; they name-call; they pass along rumors and gossip; and, they offer opinion in lieu of fact. And, they label news that they disagree with…”fake”.
Responsible, legitimate, professional newspapers have long used the “Op-Ed” (opinion/editorial) page to separate the measured opinion of the editor or publisher from the actual, factual news that is mixed in with the advertisements.
There is an old term for gossipy, rumor-filled fluff masquerading as news: “yellow journalism”. Articles in these (typically tabloid) newspapers feature graphic, sometimes “doctored” photos, crude exaggeration, and sensational stories. Bold, eye-catching headlines with scandalous intent, are aimed at folks proceeding through the checkstand at the grocery store. Articles are slim on fact, long on juicy “secrets” and tantalizing conspiracies.
I think most people take them for what they are: titillating entertainment, but not really factual news. As Jay Leno used to say, “The Enquirer checks, re-checks, and then re-check the facts…” with a smirk. In other words, their reporters take gossip and massage it into an expose.
A problem that we now have in America is that yellow journalism has invaded broadcast media.
This is a significant problem, in that people are going digital in a big way, so print media (i.e. legitimate newspapers) is losing audience share to digital media (i.e. information available on cell phones, I-pads, smart watches) and broadcast media (particularly radio and cable TV). The local newspaper, trying to focus on actual news, is in competition with entertainment…and, people like to be entertained more than they like to be educated. It’s a fact of life.
What passes for news on some popular radio and cable TV shows is actually yellow journalism…high shock value headline to capture attention, followed by the on-air “talent” entertaining the audience with his or her opinions, usually of a strident political nature. Facts, truth, decency, and the like are not germane to the “show”…which is what it is. The ostensible news program is, essentially, a bombastic, bile-filled performance meant to smear a fellow American, usually a public figure.
The big problem, as I see it, particularly with cable TV, is that many local markets in the United States are served by very few media companies. Actually, I believe something like 90 percent of American households with cable TV are served by six media companies. These companies typically have radio, TV, and entertainment (motion picture) components. First and foremost, they are in the business of entertainment…and tolerate news shows…as long as they are entertaining.
A guy like Walter Cronkite, sitting stolidly in a chair, monotonously reading the days news events…”telling it like it is”…wouldn’t hold an anchor job for a week. He was The Most Trusted Man In America, as I recall, but that was back in the day when people were thirsty for real information; way back in the so-called “Greatest Generation”.
People like Edward R. Murrow, Dan Rather, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace…they were TV reporters who were actually journalists. They took pride in the accuracy of their work and the limited use of hyperbole. They were the Sgt. Joe Friday’s in their field.
Today, a radio listener to the highly-rated Excellence in Broadcasting Network’s Rush Limbaugh show is likely to hear the host use racial epithets, insult political leaders, denigrate entire ethnic groups, and accuse (without a shred of truth) various public figures of heinous crimes, misdemeanors and treason. All in a hour’s work…in the name of honest reporting. In reality, it’s a 60-minute sermon.
Fox News, a cable TV offering reaching virtually all markets in America, is essentially a 24/7 bullhorn for conservative and extreme right-wing political propaganda masquerading as factual news. It has also become the de-facto policy making arm of the Trump Administration.
Fox News will hype some “news” which may be simply gossip, rumor, a conspiracy theory, or perhaps a word-for-word diatribe from the Ku Klux Klan members manual. The agit-prop shtick is presented by foaming-at-the-mouth personalities who are entertainers, not reporters. The intent is to incite political action.
It works. President Trump is an avid follower, as is his political base, and he regularly tweets his high-fives to the Fox News hosts, giving them more stature with their audience. The President’s intense campaign against “fake news” has been promoted, endlessly, by Fox News hosts, who are endlessly streaming fake news…from President Trump.
Basically, it is the President’s feeling, hence Fox’s, that any news that is not flattering to Donald Trump or his Administration is…fake.
When someone quits the Trump Administration (or, more likely, gets fired), the President often seeks replacements from within the Fox News roster of TV personalities, presumably because they are loyal to him.
Millions of people in the United States think that Fox News is actually putting out factual news, and they have their TV tuned to Fox 24/7. Go figure.
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is a media giant that owns 193 cable TV outlets throughout the country. In some small markets, the Sinclair offering IS the local news source. Thus, Sinclair wields a lot of political power. And, the corporation is not adverse to using it.
Recently, “reporters” on Sinclair cable channels throughout the country were directed to read a corporate-produced editorial, as if it were a news story, warning the public about biased, “fake” news being put out…by the other guys. The message was, essentially, that Sinclair news was totally pure, unvarnished truth, devoid of any type of political slant. Viewers were warned about those unprincipled news outlets, who use their platforms to push their own agendas to control “exactly what people think”. Shame on them (those other guys)! Every anchorman, on every Sinclair station, read the same Sinclair corporate bullshit, word-for-word, with feeling, as if it were legitimate news.
So, when President Trump publicly says or does something that is caught on tape or videoed (i.e. it actually happened), Sinclair stations will report that the reality was “fake”, and its viewers are expected to believe that…because Sinclair has a corporate commitment to factual reporting. In essence, we will tell you what is real and what is not: don’t believe your eyes or ears (or your brain)…believe us, because we are the good guys.
George Orwell predicted this.
The Internet, as wonderful as it is, is a plague when it comes to transmitting rubbish disguised as news. Anyone (like me!) can start up a blog, and foist off gossip, rumors, conspiracy theories, and announce scandalous events that didn’t really happen. Amateur “reporters” are everywhere on the Web, and, the more spectacular and salacious the “scoop”, the quicker the so-called news goes viral.
Breitbart is an Internet news outlet that is famous for pushing (and, inventing) right-wing propaganda. Neo-Nazis, religious nuts, anarchists, Tea Partiers, and racists contribute scary stuff to this site. What is really scary, though, is that so-called “news” outlets like Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Sinclair, etc. pass along scurrilous Breitbart propaganda as legitimate source material for program fodder.
President Trump was so enamored with Breitbart that he chose its honcho, Steve Bannon, to mastermind his campaign and serve as his chief political strategist once elected. Go figure. (Bannon has since left the Administration.)
So, I guess the question is: How important is truth? Do we really need it in modern society?
America elected a guy who lies (publicly) every day, usually multiple times. His history is full of lies and dishonesty, whether it be his marriages, his business dealings, his political beliefs, etc. And, he is not ashamed of lying. He often doubles-down on a lie, once caught, expecting that this will drive off a reporter. He will even go on TV and deny, on camera, that he said something the previous day…something that we all saw him say.
His press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has the unenviable task of walking back stupid things the President of the United States said, publicly. Often, she will said, “What he meant…”. Other times, she lie to protect him…”He never said that” (thing we all saw him say on TV!). Oh, Boy, what a job she has.
(The Liar’s Liar: In the April 1991 issue of Spy magazine: “A mobster who knew Trump socially said of him once, ‘he’d lie to you about what time of day it is — just for the practice.’ ”)
In Trump’s mind, it’s fake if he says it’s fake. And, anyone who doesn’t take his side…well, he’s fake, too. And, anyone who reports about this…well, he’s making stuff up. (Not that the President would ever stoop to that…)
Maybe we don’t need truth. Maybe, like Colonel Nathan R. Jessep said, we “can’t handle the truth”.
Truths like climate warming, Russian meddling in our elections, systemic police misconduct in poor neighborhoods, phony caches of Weapons of Mass Destruction, exaggerated claims about Mexican rapists pouring into the country, Administration actions which enrich Trump campaign contributors, the couple of dozen women who’ve come forward to claim that Donald Trump cheated on his wife…the list is endless…those are things that the public doesn’t need to know about.
The Pentagon Papers, Watergate, Iran-Contra…nah, we don’t need to know about things like that.
Like the trillion dollar debt that the government just saddled us with, paid for with borrowed money. It’s fake, none of our business.
All of it’s fake news, along with any other story that surfaces today or this week which puts Donald Trump in a bad light.
FAKE UPDATE: Yesterday, the F.B.I. executed a surprise search warrant on the office and residence of Donald Trump’s personal attorney. There seems to be some evidence that his attorney Michael Cohen has violated campaign and bank fraud laws relative to the “Stormy” Daniels affair. In other words, the attorney may have done wrong when he paid slush money to Daniels to buy her silence during the 2016 campaign.
Of course, the President has claimed “never happened” on a number of occasions, most of them dealing with allegations from the many women he slept or groped in public with while married, contractors that the Trump organization stiffed, and Cabinet staff who heard him refer to African nations as “shithole countries”. Trump University scamming folks? “Never happened!” (And, then, the Trump organization paid out over $1 million in settlement claims to the scammed students.)
If he says it’s true, you can take it to the bank. And, if he call’s someone a liar, well…who would be more qualified to speak on that subject?
Not to belabor the point, but… why would his personal attorney write up a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels and pay her $130,000 not to talk about something (screw Donald Trump) that never happened?
President Trump is now outraged that someone’s personal attorney, doing illegal things on behalf of a client, can be charged with anything…”It violates attorney-client privilege!” said the Prez. He also added, speaking of the F.B.I. raid, that it was “disgraceful” and “an attack on our country”.
Really?
We can now expect Fox News, Breitbart, Sinclair, Rush Limbaugh, and bootlicking Congressmen like Devin Nunes to attack the F.B.I. again…for doing their job.
Trump will probably fire the entire F.B.I. brass.
The whole thing’s FAKE, of course, like Trump’s Presidency.
FAKE UPDATE 2: This morning, Speaker of the House/GOP Congressman Paul Ryan announced that he will not seek re-election, joining the 30+ Republican legislators who can see the writing on the wall.
This is not surprising, actually. Ryan was that avowed opponent of “tax and spend” Democrats, a balanced budget Tea Partier, who gave Obama fits for years as Mr. Conservative/Fiscal Prudency.
Of course, as soon as his Republican Party gained control of Washington D.C., Ryan led the charge to adopt an un-balanced budget ($1 trillion deficit) that is enabled by phony revenue estimates and huge borrowing (to pay for the tax cuts for the 1% of Americans who contributed big-time to GOP campaigns).
Paul Ryan will forever be known in national political history as the Biggest Hypocrite of all-time…
…a FAKE conservative and FAKE patriot who enabled Donald Trump to desecrate our American democracy.
That makes over 30 Republican congressmen who don’t want to face the voters in November for the crap that they’ve pulled this session.
Will the last one standing please turn out the lights?
FAKE UPDATE 3: Fired F.B.I. Director James Comey published a memoir this week which goes into great detail about President Trump’s dishonesty.
Trump immediately tweeted that Comey was a “slimeball”…for ratting him out, I’m sure.
Comey is the guy who publicly re-opened an investigation into alleged Hillary Clinton wrongdoing just in time to sabotage her Presidential campaign. The investigation went nowhere, but the damage was done. Trump praised Comey at the time for his sleazy move, calling him a great patriot, etc.
However, once President, Trump cooled appreciably toward Comey when the latter wouldn’t drop investigations into some of the Russia-gate principals, like the President’s nominee for a National Security Agency post. (That nominee was later thrown under the bus by Trump, and he plead guilty to improperly communicating with a Russian spy.)
As the saying goes, “It takes a slimeball to know one.”
…we’ve inherited some bad neighbors…
