FYI: I am in favor of a special prosecutor; if Trump did nothing he should be cleared, if he did do something it needs to be cleaned up, whatever that means.
It seems as if Mollie Hemingway,
a writer for The Federalist, in a May 16th story, may have her finger
on the pulse of the fake news that is being passed around as gospel. Hemingway takes aim at a few recent
Washington Post “breaking news” stories, based on leaks from “anonymous
sources” that appear to be wrong.
One such story was that former FBI Director Jim Comey had
recently asked for more funding for the “Russian” investigation. Another was the report that “Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein
threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on
Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey.”
Of course, Rosenstein himself responded saying that he had
no intention of leaving his job. But
what is behind all of this “misinformation” really? What’s behind it is the main stream media’s
desire to flip the script and attack the president with any random negativity
they come across, whether or not it is true?
Often, they would much rather run on a weak story that
pushes their narrative forward without regard for the truth, or what most
people call “facts.” When I was a
reporter, I had to have three sources before I was allowed to publish a
“breaking news” story. In fact, there
were several stories that I knew about but because they were handed to me by
“anonymous” sources they died on the vine.
But in the end, the stories wound up being true, I just couldn’t prove
it.
So what’s a reporter to do?
Well, in the current era it seems that anything that even remotely
appears to support your agenda is fair game to print. After all, why let facts get in the way of a
good story?
No matter where you fall in the political spectrum, the way
the news is being doled out today lacks any adherence to facts. The rush to ridicule is outrageous. It’s no wonder “fake news” is the term of the
decade. They don’t even grace it with
the term, lies. It used to be near
impossible to put out information that was so far from the truth. Now, it’s the
run of the mill.
For me, it’s almost impossible to believe anything the
current news folk put out. The closest
thing to truth we get from the media today is the weather report. In days past, the weather report was the
least likely to prove true.
Hemmingway put together a list of 9 things to keep in mind
when reading reports in today’s newspapers.
They follow:
1.
In the immediate aftermath, news outlets will get it wrong.
2.
Don’t trust anonymous sources. If democracy dies in darkness,
anonymity is not exactly transparent or accountable. Unless someone is willing
to put his or her name with a leak, be on guard. Pay attention to how well the
reporters characterize the motivations of the anonymous leaker. All leakers
have motivation. Does the paper seem to have a grasp on how the motivation
affects the veracity of the leak?
3.
If someone is leaking national security information in order
to support the claim of a national security violation, be on guard.
4.
If someone is claiming a serious national security crisis but
not willing to go public with the claim and resign in protest of same, be on
guard.
5.
Compare sources willing to put their name and reputation on
the line.
6.
Big anti-Trump news brings out the fakers.
7.
Pay attention to the language that the media uses. Is a story
about something unimportant being written in such a way as to make it seem more
important?
8.
Beware confirmation bias. Everyone has the tendency to
interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.
Be on guard that you don’t accept critical or exonerating evidence to match
your political preferences.
9. Pay attention to how quickly
and fully editors and reporters correct stories based on false information from
anonymous sources. If they don’t correct at all, it’s an indication of a lack
of respect.
Sounds like good advice to me; what do you think?
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