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The enemy of the people (fake news)


Goredho

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So this is an overlap of a post elsewhere, but probably worthy of its own thread.

Trump keeps railing on journalists, the media and free press as "the enemy of the people".  Do you agree with him?  If so, why?  I would appreciate your inclusion of any references to journalistic works as examples of the free press acting as the enemy of the people so I can consider what has brought you to this opinion.

I personally believe in the need for a free press.  I believe the enemy of the people is government and big business operating unfettered and without scrutiny.  I believe journalists serve as a check against that. Here are some examples of journalistic works that lead me to believe this.  They clearly show examples of either government or business gone awry and the critical public need to know.  Without a free press, they would have simply been allowed to happen and continue.  There are certainly more examples like this which I hope others would post here as well.

Example 1:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part1.html
 

Quote

"Five Held in Plot to Bug Democratic Offices Here," said the headline at the bottom of page one in the Washington Post on Sunday, June 18, 1972. The story reported that a team of burglars had been arrested inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office complex in Washington.

So began the chain of events that would convulse Washington for two years, lead to the first resignation of a U.S. president and change American politics forever.

The story intrigued two young reporters on The Post's staff, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward who were called in to work on the story. As Woodward's notes show, he learned from police sources that the men came from Miami, wore surgical gloves and carried thousands of dollars in cash. It was, said one source, "a professional type operation."

The next day, Woodward and Bernstein joined up for the first of many revelatory stories. "GOP Security Aide Among Those Arrested," reported that burglar James McCord was on the payroll of President Nixon's reelection committee.
 


Example 2: https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/kennecott-hides-potential-for-deadly-tailings-disaster-in-magna-utah-by-gabriel-caplett/

Quote

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Kennecott Utah Copper Corp. has concealed, since 1988, the potential for an earthquake-caused major tailings disaster in Magna, Utah.  The tailings impoundment is located north of Magna and stores an estimated 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes.  In 1993, the company conducted a “risk assessment” to determine if full containment of the impoundment would be more expensive than legal costs associated with property damage and citizen deaths.  

 

The Tribune has published a 1997 confidential memo, written by Ray D. Gardner, former Chief Legal Officer for Kennecott, that is critical of the company’s handling of the potential tailings disaster:  “Prior management’s decisions to disregard and conceal legal advice, forego public notice, attempt to establish a residential buffer surreptitiously, collude with the State Engineer to withhold the KL studies from the public, and restrict the distribution of the Reduction Study, collectively and individually, give the appearance of a conspiracy to cover-up a profound threat to public safety.”


Example 3: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/denied/
 

Quote

Over a decade ago, the officials arbitrarily decided what percentage of students should get special education services — 8.5 percent — and since then they have forced school districts to comply by strictly auditing those serving too many kids.

Their efforts, which started in 2004 but have never been publicly announced or explained, have saved the Texas Education Agency billions of dollars but denied vital supports to children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, epilepsy, mental illnesses, speech impediments, traumatic brain injuries, even blindness and deafness, a Houston Chronicle investigation has found.

Texas is the only state that has ever set a target for special education enrollment, records show.

It has been remarkably effective.

In the years since its implementation, the rate of Texas kids receiving special education has plummeted from near the national average of 13 percent to the lowest in the country — by far.

In 2015, for the first time, it fell to exactly 8.5 percent.

If Texas provided services at the same rate as the rest of the U.S., 250,000 more kids would be getting critical services such as therapy, counseling and one-on-one tutoring.


So man up (or Bama Chick up) for your beliefs and defend them.  Whether you think the press is the enemy of the people or a critical cornerstone of democracy, show the world what evidence has led you to that conclusion.

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"Enemy of the people" goes way too far, but...

Good and even middling journalism is a great check on the government. Journalism-like organizations that simply serve as propaganda and disinformation campaigns for those in power are really bad for us. Probably the most notable offender is Breitbart, but there are many on "both sides." Likewise, journalism-like organizations that wave shiny things around and try to manufacture controversy are also bad for us. This includes all the screaming heads on cable news as well as things like overwrought hurricane coverage. Jon Stewart was right when he told Crossfire that they were hurting America. Trying to draw a distinction between "opinion" and "news" becomes meaningless when the lines are so blurred and oftentimes the opinion is the news.

In short, the fourth estate is failing the country as much as Trump and Congress are. Rather than having journalism-like people who chase the victimhood status high ground, we need journalists who seek the truth. 

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Russia, Russia, Russia, Manafort, Trump tweets, Russia, impeachment, Russia, 25th Amendment, Trump tweets, Russia, Russia.

You know there is actual news that they could report on. If you believe in AGW or like the environment, Trump is gutting the EPA. Might want to report on that. Trade war's kind of a thing. Economy is real news. There are a thousand real issues where it would benefit the public discussion to cover them. 

I really just want the news. I don't want any of their opinions. I watch Fox and Friends sometimes and when they opinionate it is fucking godawful cringeworthy idiocy. 

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20 hours ago, Mole said:

"Enemy of the people" goes way too far, but...

Good and even middling journalism is a great check on the government. Journalism-like organizations that simply serve as propaganda and disinformation campaigns for those in power are really bad for us. Probably the most notable offender is Breitbart, but there are many on "both sides." Likewise, journalism-like organizations that wave shiny things around and try to manufacture controversy are also bad for us. This includes all the screaming heads on cable news as well as things like overwrought hurricane coverage. Jon Stewart was right when he told Crossfire that they were hurting America. Trying to draw a distinction between "opinion" and "news" becomes meaningless when the lines are so blurred and oftentimes the opinion is the news.

 In short, the fourth estate is failing the country as much as Trump and Congress are. Rather than having journalism-like people who chase the victimhood status high ground, we need journalists who seek the truth. 

Good post here, and I don't disagree.  I do think it says as much about the Joe citizen than it does the news organizations.  Given the choice between factual news and editorials trumpeting their existing views, Joe chooses to consume the latter overwhelmingly.  Youtube, podcasts, blogs, etc... make it very competitive to get Joe's attention for news.  I think this is a spot where capitalism starts to break down.  For a news organization to turn a profit, they have to offer up non-news that tell Joe he's right and trigger dopamine centers in his brain.  There could easily have been a 'Dirty Money' episode on the modern news business.   Its one reason why I try to consume NPR more than other sources.

That said, the people I see posting about Fake News the most, either here or on FB, twitter, whatever, are the biggest consumers I know of slanted, editorial journalism as 'news'.  They rail against the fake news while consuming nothing but... fake news...
 

19 hours ago, Thetexashammer said:

Russia, Russia, Russia, Manafort, Trump tweets, Russia, impeachment, Russia, 25th Amendment, Trump tweets, Russia, Russia.

You know there is actual news that they could report on. If you believe in AGW or like the environment, Trump is gutting the EPA. Might want to report on that. Trade war's kind of a thing. Economy is real news. There are a thousand real issues where it would benefit the public discussion to cover them. 

I really just want the news. I don't want any of their opinions. I watch Fox and Friends sometimes and when they opinionate it is fucking godawful cringeworthy idiocy. 

... like this fucking guy.  Russia hacking/attempts to hack 27 states election infrastructure in 2016 is a fact.  Trump's failure to condemn it or issue an edict to defend ourselves in this arena is a fact.  Russia's attempt to influence our hearts/minds through social media is a fact.  Raising awareness about it so that we can consider what we are consuming is a public service.  The campaign chairman of the President being a paid agent of foreign interests and pleading guilty to associated felonies is a fact.  The schism between this President and the justice department and intelligence community regarding Russia, unlike any I've seen in any President dating back to Regan, is a fact.

These are all facts, newsworthy and the public has a need-to-know about them.   You just don't like them, Joe.

If you've got examples of fake news, not simply factual topics you don't like being discussed, post them.  Otherwise, you're just a fucking Trumpkin parroting the phrases uttered by your owner.

Edited by Goredho
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If you want good to great journalism, you are gonna have to pay for it. I work in the industry -- have for 17 years. Every single one of those years, ad revenue has declined. Newspapers and magazines are withering away. Internet-only model has yet to make much money. Thousands of journalists and copy editors are out of work, and copy editor are important, because they caught the typos we often make when under the gun, and when typos slip in, idiots will cite them as proof the story was written by a moron and thus fake news.

Sadly, sending a reporter out to some shithole in Arizona to investigate a mining travesty is not free. There is no magic money tree we can just pluck the green from to dispatch somebody out there for a week or two or more. Sadly, city hall, state capital, county politics and court reporters aren't willing to work pro bono 40 hours a week. They have needs, like things to eat and places to sleep. 

More and more, we are forced by these realities to give the public what they want -- trash. Socialite garbage. Sex scandals with no bearing on any of us by the parties involved. Celebrity shite. 

And those of you who bitch the most about "the media" are very often the same ones who cut and paste articles from behind paywalls. Those paywalls are there for a reason, and that reason is that journalists need food and shelter. 

tl;dr Fuck you, pay me.  

 

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9 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

If you want good to great journalism, you are gonna have to pay for it.

The one that really kills me is the local newspaper has a facebook page and they'll post teasers with links to the article which is behind a firewall. And man does that drive some people nuts that they can't read the article. "Why post the teaser if I have to pay for it?!?!?" You dumb shit, who do you think is paying for the newspaper to do the reporting for you? The government you hate so much?

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10 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

If you want good to great journalism, you are gonna have to pay for it. I work in the industry -- have for 17 years. Every single one of those years, ad revenue has declined. Newspapers and magazines are withering away. Internet-only model has yet to make much money. Thousands of journalists and copy editors are out of work, and copy editor are important, because they caught the typos we often make when under the gun, and when typos slip in, idiots will cite them as proof the story was written by a moron and thus fake news.

Sadly, sending a reporter out to some shithole in Arizona to investigate a mining travesty is not free. There is no magic money tree we can just pluck the green from to dispatch somebody out there for a week or two or more. Sadly, city hall, state capital, county politics and court reporters aren't willing to work pro bono 40 hours a week. They have needs, like things to eat and places to sleep. 

More and more, we are forced by these realities to give the public what they want -- trash. Socialite garbage. Sex scandals with no bearing on any of us by the parties involved. Celebrity shite. 

And those of you who bitch the most about "the media" are very often the same ones who cut and paste articles from behind paywalls. Those paywalls are there for a reason, and that reason is that journalists need food and shelter. 

tl;dr Fuck you, pay me.  

 

Here’s my lunch money.  I get what you are saying, and it’s why I lay the blame on Joe Citizen.  They won’t pay for real journalism when they can set up a twitter list giving them only “news” that’s comfortable to consume.  I.e. that reinforces their beliefs, tells them they are right and avoids topics that might disrupt that.

If you want to make money in media, you are far better off pandering to a demographic’s biases than you are in providing thought provoking journalism.

My family owned a couple dozen newspapers in small Texas towns up until the early 90’s when they sold out.  My grandfather built them up and my father and uncles ran them into their 40s/50s before cashing out.  They took the notion of journalistic integrity very seriously.  I wish they were still around today to get their opinions about the current state of news and journalism.

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I think a lot of the blame is also on the internet.  Local journalism is dying.  And with the national news, most people, if they aren't getting it from cable "news" sources, are getting the news from places like surly or facebook, or even the home page of a news site.  Where they can click on what they want to see.  There's not the context that there used to be when you opened the Sunday paper, and would see articles that you probably wouldn't click on, but would read when they were on the page in front of you.  So most people, even those who are well informed, are just reading their tenth opinion piece on say the Kavanaugh nomination.

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On 9/15/2018 at 12:51 PM, Mole said:

... Journalism-like organizations that simply serve as propaganda and disinformation campaigns for those in power are really bad for us. Probably the most notable offender is Breitbart, ...

It's funny to an extent, but this is just a matter of perspective (or team).  When W was POTUS, the "mainstream press" was generally fair to him, but dug into stories and wan't afraid to oppose his policies (especially Iraq war).  When Obama was president, the "mainstream press" was essentially a propaganda instrument for the administration (see media bias thread on the old site for details).  Now that Trump is POTUS, the "mainstream press" is full on hostile to the administration.

I don't consider the press as "enemies of the people".  That's 3rd world banana republic rhetoric.  But each press outlet definitely pushes/pusues an agenda.  Sometimes it is in harmony with the office, sometimes not.

The real "enemy of the people" IMO, is the drive to censor and control the flow of information (see: social media, internet). 

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It's a compound issue that requires multiple thoughts. Simple minds seek simple solutions/answers, but that's just now how a lot of things work and this is a classic case.

Is the media absolutely ridiculous? In many ways, yes.

Do they choose to include/exclude things based on considerations like clicks, advertisers, ratings, etc? Yes

Have they effectively enabled certain evils to exist in the world either by refusing to report them or reporting them from a severely slanted perspective (a la the New York Times/AP's coverage of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in the 1970's)? Yes, they have.

Does that make them, in any way, an "enemy of the people?" Fuck off with that silly noise.

Even if they were "enemies of the people," are people like Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Milo, et al the seldom chosen white knights worthy to fight these enemies? No. They don't care about the media in the abstract. All Donald Trump cares about w/r/t the media is how nice they are to him. His ego is that fragile and his intellect is that shallow. All Bannon/Limbaugh/Coulter care about w/r/t the media is that they don't like the fact that their silly-assed right wing nonsense isn't propagated 24/7 on networks that aren't named Fox News.

So even if the media is "the enemy of the people," as only Donald Trump and his sycophantic, suck-up minions say that it is, they're perhaps the very last people on Earth who could right that wrong. What they want out of the media isn't for a wrong to be righted; it's for a wrong to be even more wrong.

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Yep, not an enemy, but modern journalism is about trying to create an outcome they want people to buy into. Creative editing, and sound bites are the name of the game today. Who, what, when, where and why is sooo passe' today.


For profit news has one goal: keep your attention. That’s it.

What Trump is suggesting is wrong and supporters of this are stupid and short sighted. If I knew one I’d ask what happens when a Democrat gets elected prez and gets to pick which news outlets can exist.
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1 minute ago, Buzzrock said:

 


For profit news has one goal: keep your attention. That’s it.

What Trump is suggesting is wrong and supporters of this are stupid and short sighted. If I knew one I’d ask what happens when a Democrat gets elected prez and gets to pick which news outlets can exist.

 

He's partially wrong. I've seen too many news reports and sound bites creatively edited that turn out to be red herrings when you see the quote in it's contact or un edited.  There is a definite we'll tell you what to think attitude from all sides as we show you what we want you to see.

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12 hours ago, Mole said:

So what changed culturally? Why did we care to pay for good journalism before? Is it just a change in medium? Is our children learning?

Some random thoughts/opinions.  If you were to graph potential information sources over time, you would see an exponential curve shooting upward after the year 1995 or so.  A few things happened at roughly the same time, within 10-15 years of each other:

1.  The rise of internet based communication.  Email lists, old fashioned BBS, blogs, podcasts, youtube, twitter, facebook, etc...  Everyone has a platform to broadcast their opinions.  Everyone can consume an endless stream of information for free.  The information can be filtered to exactly what you want to be presented with.  While facilitating communication, the intardnet buffers humans from each other while communicating, allowing people to say things online they would never say to another person's face. 

news2.gif

2. Talk radio, specifically Rush Limbaugh, showed that someone could make a shit ton of money being a source of alt-information pandering to a demographic's confirmation bias.  A shit ton of copycats try to find a niche audience that wants someone to tell them they are right, good and that those outside of their group are bad and evil.

3.  People like Oprah, the Kardashians and Trump demonstrating the power of a personal brand and influencing the behavior of a demographic.  If you have millions of followers, can offer up 140 characters speaking highly of a product and generate tens-of-millions in sales, you are going to be a very well-compensated endorser.  Again, a shit ton of copycats try to cash in on the phenomenon, upping the amount of information out there.

4. News hits a tipping point of supply and demand.  The supply of information shoots up exponentially.  The demand of consumers stays relatively static.  The consumers get distributed across the pool of producers, leading to huge losses of audience for traditional news sources.  Newspapers especially are hard hit, as their pay-for-information business model can't compete with the ocean of free information that requires less of the consumer.

5. Informational overload and fatigue.  A huge number of sources offer up often conflicting pieces of information in their competition for the attention of different groups of people.  Sifting through it all to identify what has merit and what is just BS becomes a full time job that no one can afford.  People have to rely on curated information, from sources they believe they can trust.  People essentially outsource their critical thinking to their favored sources which often leads to echo chambers, ivory towers of information, etc...

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8 hours ago, Goredho said:

.. People have to rely on curated information, from sources they believe they can trust.  ...

Traditional media have also shot themselves in the foot on this point.  TV news anchors have been exposed as liars and whores.  Investigative news shows like 60 minutes and Dateline exposed fabricating lies.  Print media is just dying because the internet (and 24 hour cable news) has changed the marketplace dynamic for news consumption. 

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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-biased-is-your-news-source-you-probably-wont-agree-with-this-chart-2018-02-28

News isnt fake but its extremely biased.  Example is the New York Times article last week trying to make Trump administration look bad by claiming Nikki Hailey ordered 50k in drapes.  Turns out it was the Obama administration that ordered the drapes.  It was a rush to put out a negative story.  There are countless stories like that.  

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Just now, WhatTheBuck said:

So out of dozens and dozens of stories about abuse and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars for personal gain or benefit in the Trump administration, one of them turned out to be a rush to judgment and was quickly corrected. 

So much bias. 

You forget to include the stories that don't get reported. You know they're out there, or you're brain dead.

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5 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

So out of dozens and dozens of stories about abuse and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars for personal gain or benefit in the Trump administration, one of them turned out to be a rush to judgment and was quickly corrected. 

So much bias. 

The problem is...this happens with every administration,  with government in general but it doesnt get reported...why?  Bias...

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42 minutes ago, AtticusFinch said:

The problem is...this happens with every administration,  with government in general but it doesnt get reported...why?  Bias...

If it doesn't get reported then how do you know it happens in every administration? Who was the last president who had a string of luxury properties where he vacationed every weekend with taxpayer dollars paying him to lodge his entourage? Who was Scott Pruitt's counterpart in any administration ever? How about Price? Mnuchin? Carson? Zinke?

What were the abuses committed by members of the Obama or Clinton administrations that make the rampant corruption in the current administration look like business as usual? Trump is totally unique in the history of the American presidency and nobody else comes close. Easily the most corrupt president ever and that spreads throughout those who associate with him. The fish rots from the head, as they say. 

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5 minutes ago, DougO said:

You mean like the $59,000 curtains in Haley's office that were an absolute outrage last week, starving children for the sake of lavish decorations, until it was found that it was the Obama administration that ordered them long ago?

Why I haven't heard a peep about them since then... Ain't that a co-inky-dink.....

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8 minutes ago, DougO said:

You mean like the $59,000 curtains in Haley's office that were an absolute outrage last week, starving children for the sake of lavish decorations, until it was found that it was the Obama administration that ordered them long ago?

Yes that was bullshit, and Donald Trump is still the biggest lying motherfucker this country has ever seen, so there's that.

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15 minutes ago, DougO said:

You mean like the $59,000 curtains in Haley's office that were an absolute outrage last week, starving children for the sake of lavish decorations, until it was found that it was the Obama administration that ordered them long ago?

Still an outrage no matter which administration made the decision.  They should buy drapes at Ikea.  Although there should be some allowance for the fact that ambassadors have to entertain foreign dignitaries.  And all that pales in comparison to Pruitt and Long's shenanigans, however.  This is where "both sides" hits the wall.  Obama ordered $59,000 worth of drapes so the US doesn't look low budget when the ambassador to the UN is entertaining pretentious foreign assholes.  Pruitt straight up fleeced the American taxpayers for $4.5 million.  Long gets a personal attendant to drive him around across multiple state lines.  And even there, I have no problem with him having a gov't car, but he can drive himself, and when he is going somewhere for personal reasons, he can pay for his own gas.

Most gov't offices should run lean like a small business trying to break even in its first couple years.  A handful of gov't offices that require a "show" should have higher budgets for it.

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2 hours ago, AtticusFinch said:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-biased-is-your-news-source-you-probably-wont-agree-with-this-chart-2018-02-28

News isnt fake but its extremely biased.  Example is the New York Times article last week trying to make Trump administration look bad by claiming Nikki Hailey ordered 50k in drapes.  Turns out it was the Obama administration that ordered the drapes.  It was a rush to put out a negative story.  There are countless stories like that.  

Appreciate the concrete example.

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3 hours ago, AtticusFinch said:

The problem is...this happens with every administration,  with government in general but it doesnt get reported...why?  Bias...

I've seen this response from others I know personally, and I don't get it.  I've been voting since Reagan, have voted for both Rs and Ds in that time, but I've never seen anyone but Trump:

  • Be publicly antagonistic with our closest allies in democracy and weakening the bonds of NATO
  • Have a huge public schism with the state department, justice department and intelligence community
  • Fail to respond to the threat posed to our nation by a foreign power that all of the above agree is actively seeking to weaken and destabilize our nation
  • Seek relationships of understanding and equality with autocrats, adversaries of democracy and those that place zero value on human rights (Putin, KJU, et al)
  • Have many advisers in their circle that are guilty of felonies related to the advancement of Putin/Russian interests
  • Wage unprovoked trade wars without any attempt to negotiate before hand
  • Embolden white nationals, white supremacists, racists, mysogynists, etc... to be proud of their beliefs and project them into society
  • Flaunt their disregard for women, minorities, non-Christians and some nationalities
  • Address immigration woes by breaking up families and interring children in camps without having any means to reunite them when they are sent back from where they came
  • Use their power as President to damage the business of corporations through Tweets (Amazon, NFL, etc...)

Those are facts, they aren't media bias.  And I never saw any evidence of such things being 'covered up' in previous administrations.  If you have some source of information that leads you to believe the chaos surrounding the Trump administration is business as usual, but we just have a biased media that never reported on such things before, please post them.  I would love to have a better understanding of where you are coming from.
 

1 hour ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Countless instances of indiscretion in the Trump administration, focus on a couple of media fuckups to create a false equivalency. Not falling for this shit. 

 

From Atticus' link:

MW-GE557_MediaB_20180228115701_NS.jpg

I have no idea how they plotted news sources in the above infographic, but lets assume for now that its reasonably accurate.  The 'fake news' that Trump has called out are the NYT, the Washington Post, CNN, etc...  Those news sources, while not infallible and having a slightly liberal slant, are still squarely in the middle of the bell curve.  The 'real news' that Trump espouses is Fox, which falls far to the right on the long-tail of extreme conservatism.

Fake news is real, but the people railing on it are the biggest consumers of fake news slanted to their own ideology.

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49 minutes ago, Goredho said:

 

I've seen this response from others I know personally, and I don't get it.  I've been voting since Reagan, have voted for both Rs and Ds in that time, but I've never seen anyone but Trump:

  • Be publicly antagonistic with our closest allies in democracy and weakening the bonds of NATO
  • Have a huge public schism with the state department, justice department and intelligence community
  • Fail to respond to the threat posed to our nation by a foreign power that all of the above agree is actively seeking to weaken and destabilize our nation
  • Seek relationships of understanding and equality with autocrats, adversaries of democracy and those that place zero value on human rights (Putin, KJU, et al)
  • Have many advisers in their circle that are guilty of felonies related to the advancement of Putin/Russian interests
  • Wage unprovoked trade wars without any attempt to negotiate before hand
  • Embolden white nationals, white supremacists, racists, mysogynists, etc... to be proud of their beliefs and project them into society
  • Flaunt their disregard for women, minorities, non-Christians and some nationalities
  • Address immigration woes by breaking up families and interring children in camps without having any means to reunite them when they are sent back from where they came
  • Use their power as President to damage the business of corporations through Tweets (Amazon, NFL, etc...)

Those are facts, they aren't media bias.  And I never saw any evidence of such things being 'covered up' in previous administrations.  If you have some source of information that leads you to believe the chaos surrounding the Trump administration is business as usual, but we just have a biased media that never reported on such things before, please post them.  I would love to have a better understanding of where you are coming from.
 

From Atticus' link:

MW-GE557_MediaB_20180228115701_NS.jpg

I have no idea how they plotted news sources in the above infographic, but lets assume for now that its reasonably accurate.  The 'fake news' that Trump has called out are the NYT, the Washington Post, CNN, etc...  Those news sources, while not infallible and having a slightly liberal slant, are still squarely in the middle of the bell curve.  The 'real news' that Trump espouses is Fox, which falls far to the right on the long-tail of extreme conservatism.

Fake news is real, but the people railing on it are the biggest consumers of fake news slanted to their own ideology.

Well, yeah.  The red box at the bottom tells you all you need to know.  The conservative liars are all heavy hitters and primary news sources for the new GOP.  I've never heard of a single one of the liberal liars.  I'm also not sure how the Enquirer qualifies as middle of the road when they've proven to be wholly in the pocket of Trump.

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Also interesting to note that I've never heard of the hyper-partisan liberal media entities (patribotics, Palmer Report, Occupy Democrats, Bipartisan Report, David Wolfe, Forward Progessives), but we've been inundated with links/videos from  InfoWars, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Daily Wire, Newsmax, etc. 

 

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I have heard of 'Occupy Democrats'.  I have a leftist Trumpkin equivalent in my FB friends list that posts stuff from them daily.  They are definitely a liberal propagandist organization and I've thought they were a left analog to Breitbart, which lines up with where the infographic has them placed.

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7 hours ago, DougO said:

You mean like the $59,000 curtains in Haley's office that were an absolute outrage last week, starving children for the sake of lavish decorations, until it was found that it was the Obama administration that ordered them long ago?

That was a mistake that was corrected in...what? 24 hrs? It's not like the Seth Rich story that was manufactured out of whole cloth to promote Fox News' political agenda and for which the network is being sued by Rich's family. Has Sean Hannity explained or apologized for his role in that?

What about all the other examples of irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars in this administration? Were Price and Pruitt wrongfully dismissed or do you believe the stories about them were accurate?

You were duped by a decade old still of Anderson Cooper reporting on a hurricane in Texas. I only posted the link to Anderson addressing the subject in the trivial things thread because of the political content but I'll embed it here. Surprise, surprise, Don Jr. was peddling that particular piece of fake news trying to discredit CNN and you ate it up with a spoon. 

 

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59 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

That was a mistake that was corrected in...what? 24 hrs? It's not like the Seth Rich story that was manufactured out of whole cloth to promote Fox News' political agenda and for which the network is being sued by Rich's family. Has Sean Hannity explained or apologized for his role in that?

What about all the other examples of irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars in this administration? Were Price and Pruitt wrongfully dismissed or do you believe the stories about them were accurate?

You were duped by a decade old still of Anderson Cooper reporting on a hurricane in Texas. I only posted the link to Anderson addressing the subject in the trivial things thread because of the political content but I'll embed it here. Surprise, surprise, Don Jr. was peddling that particular piece of fake news trying to discredit CNN and you ate it up with a spoon. 

 

 

 

I wasn't duped by anything. It never mattered when the deceptive staging by CNN occurred. That wasn't the obvious point of the meme that was shown everywhere. It was staged, plain and simple, despite the dishonest attempts at diverting from that fact.

Cooper gonna Cooper,  like when he showed up sloppy drunk on the air after celebrating Obama's inauguration all night.

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And I never saw any correction to the lie the New York Times and others reported falsely about the curtains. They may have, but they sure didn't make a point of everyone noticing. It's just another way they typically bury the facts in favor ot a dishonest narrative. People will still repeat the same lie. We see it over and over again. It's a regular thing.

Did they apologize for their malpractice?

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7 minutes ago, DougO said:

And I never saw any correction to the lie the New York Times and others reported falsely about the curtains. They may have, but they sure didn't make a point of everyone noticing. It's just another way they typically bury the facts in favor ot a dishonest narrative. People will still repeat the same lie. We see it over and over again. It's a regular thing.

Did they apologize for their malpractice?

Malpractice? 

Their retraction was insufficient because you didn't want see it? 

Do you have a brain tumor? 

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1 minute ago, Foosters said:

Malpractice? 

Their retraction was insufficient because you didn't want see it? 

Do you have a brain tumor? 

 

malpractice

noun
 
mal·prac·tice | \ ˌmal-ˈprak-təs \

Definition of malpractice 

 

1 : a dereliction of professional duty or a failure to exercise an ordinary degree of professional skill or learning by one (such as a physician) rendering professional services which results in injury, loss, or damage

2 : an injurious, negligent, or improper practice : malfeasance

 

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2 hours ago, DougO said:

 

 

I wasn't duped by anything. It never mattered when the deceptive staging by CNN occurred. That wasn't the obvious point of the meme that was shown everywhere. It was staged, plain and simple, despite the dishonest attempts at diverting from that fact.

Cooper gonna Cooper,  like when he showed up sloppy drunk on the air after celebrating Obama's inauguration all night.

Bullshit. You thought that still was from Florence. And you obviously didn't watch the video. 

2 hours ago, DougO said:

And I never saw any correction to the lie the New York Times and others reported falsely about the curtains. They may have, but they sure didn't make a point of everyone noticing. It's just another way they typically bury the facts in favor ot a dishonest narrative. People will still repeat the same lie. We see it over and over again. It's a regular thing.

Did they apologize for their malpractice?

You didn't see the correction because you never looked. And you're using that as an excuse to believe it never happened. In the words of the late John Perry Barlow, "You ain't gonna learn what you don't want to know."

Willful ignorance is a shameful practice.

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21 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Bullshit. You thought that still was from Florence. And you obviously didn't watch the video. 

You didn't see the correction because you never looked. And you're using that as an excuse to believe it never happened. In the words of the late John Perry Barlow, "You ain't gonna learn what you don't want to know."

Willful ignorance is a shameful practice.

You're the one dishonestly diverting from the fact that Cooper deceptively staged a video for news, which is fact. There is no denying that by anyone with an honest bone in his body. That's type of thing is what this thread is about, and you are defending dishonesty. How ironic that you should call me a liar, but what a shock there. You're trying to pull the same dishonest bullshit that snopes did, by re-framing something in a context you think can twist. I don't give a rat's ass about Cooper's pissing match with somebody else, and I did not comment about that video. I commented about the meme that you were trying to bring back from another thread when you started insulting me there without even a discussion.

It's easy to see what your stupid game is. You aren't the least bit interested in fact. You're just "one of those guys." I know them well. Nothing unique about it.

Get a life and stop being such a drama queen.

Thank goodness Anderson Cooper has graduated from staging deceptive video to using valuable network time engaging in personal flame wars over fecebook memes. He should be a lock for a Pulitzer.

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And you are lying through your teeth that I said a correction never happened. I clearly stated  (to anyone capable of rational communication) in quotes "they may have." A link was not forthcoming, and I wasn't interested in wasting time trying to look up something to have a discussion with someone not the least bit interested in having an actual rational discussion.

"You didn't see the correction because you never looked."

I never said I looked, and I never said I would look. Then you said I lied about it, which is a total lie, to anyone who knows the meaning of the word.

" Willful ignorance is a shameful practice. "

First thing you got right, champ. Congrats! Irony is ironic. It's always the worst offenders that scream about offenses.

 

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6 minutes ago, DougO said:

You're the one dishonestly diverting from the fact that Cooper deceptively staged a video for news, which is fact. There is no denying that by anyone with an honest bone in his body. That's type of thing is what this thread is about, and you are defending dishonesty. How ironic that you should call me a liar, but what a shock there. You're trying to pull the same dishonest bullshit that snopes did, by re-framing something in a context you think can twist. I don't give a rat's ass about Cooper's pissing match with somebody else, and I did not comment about that video. I commented about the meme that you were trying to bring back from another thread when you started insulting me there without even a discussion.

It's easy to see what your stupid game is. You aren't the least bit interested in fact. You're just "one of those guys." I know them well. Nothing unique about it.

Get a life and stop being such a drama queen.

Thank goodness Anderson Cooper has graduated from staging deceptive video to using valuable network time engaging in personal flame wars over fecebook memes. He should be a lock for a Pulitzer.

Please watch this video. 

 

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