3 ms·

Fake news: an insidious trend that's fast becoming a global problem

6 points by bootload 10y ago

wallace_f 10y ago
To offer a different viewpoint on this: http://observer.com/2016/11/bernie-sanders-presidential-run-was-sabotaged-by-fake-news/ http://observer.com/2016/11/bernie-sanders-presidential-run-... The war on "fake news" bothers me. The Ron Paul Institute & Wikileaks, both won a badge of honor by being claimed to be "Fake News" and "Russian Propaganda" in the Washington Post's "news" section. Sources: [Article in question](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/2016/11/24/793903b6-8a40-4ca9-b712-716af66098fe_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-prop...) [The Source that Article Cites](http://www.propornot.com/p/the-list.html http://www.propornot.com/p/the-list.html) Truly shameful journalism by the Washington Post.
- bootload 10y ago
  The fact a candidate was scuppered does't mean fake news isn't a problem. "Disclosure: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of Jared Kushner, the publisher of Observer Media." And this disclaimer at the bottom.
  - wallace_f 10y ago
    > The fact a candidate was scuppered does't mean fake news isn't a problem. Sure, I agree with you, it's a problem - actually, the article I linked to doesn't deny that. In fact, it actually says that in the title. From the article I linked: > WikiLeaks emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta implicated several mainstream media journalists in colluding with the Clinton campaign. > In 1983, 50 corporations controlled most of the media in the United States. By 2000, that number had dropped to six corporations What's scary is the US media is trying to marginalize independent media, for reasons of erroneous reporting, however they're also guilty and have been caught red handed of "fake news." The increasing monopoly on disseminating information to the public, along with declining press freedoms, declining freedom of speech and evidence the US Gov't is engaging in propaganda inside the US is all a very scary and disturbing trend. Technology won't matter too much anymore if our civil liberties are gone.
    - bootload 10y ago
      "What's scary is the US media is trying to marginalise independent media, for reasons of erroneous reporting, however they're also guilty and have been caught red handed of "fake news." These are good points @wallace_f. "Technology won't matter too much anymore if our civil liberties are gone." Yes.
mindcrime 10y ago
It's not just "fake news" in the sense of stories that are made up from "whole cloth" so to speak... we have an equally large problem with "fake news" which is nominally real, but has been spun, distorted and tweaked so as to promote on agenda or another. Mix "fake" news and "fake" news together and the whole mix is just one big fester cesspool of malfeasance. It really makes it hard to know what to believe. I mean, if you read a post from the "Denver Tribune" you know that's fake, since there is no such outlet. But if you read something on CNN or MSNBC, why would you believe it when you know about the various shady schemes going on where journalists and politicians conspire with each other behind the scenes, etc? Or if a paper reports "numbers" (jobs data, climate data, etc.) from the government, why believe those number are real? The more you think about it, the harder it is to take anything at face value. In the end, it takes a lot of work, that most people probably aren't willing to do, to try and filter this stuff out. I mean, you can read/watch/listen to news from multiple sources, and look for the commonalities, or analyze news with an eye for known existing biases, etc. Or if you're equipped to do so, you can do you own statistical analysis on the numbers your given and see if they make sense. But realistically, how many people are going to expend all that effort?
- bootload 10y ago
  "you can read/watch/listen to news from multiple sources, and look for the commonalities, or analyze news with an eye for known existing biases, etc. Or if you're equipped to do so, you can do you own statistical analysis on the numbers your given and see if they make sense. But realistically, how many people are going to expend all that effort?" Good point. This is why knowing who writes the articles and knowing sources matter. When a serious news article is written, journalists cross-check the facts. In the Watergate scandal, Woodwood/Bernstein used three different sources for each assertion. [0] The source, "Deep Throat" who remained anonymous for many years was the deputy director of the FBI at the time. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal#Role_of_the_media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal#Role_of_the_...
DefaultUserHN 10y ago
The only #FakeNews I saw this election cycle is all those fake polls by the mainstream media.

6 points by bootload 10y ago

To offer a different viewpoint on this: http://observer.com/2016/11/bernie-sanders-presidential-run-was-sabotaged-by-fake-news/ http://observer.com/2016/11/bernie-sanders-presidential-run-... The war on "fake news" bothers me. The Ron Paul Institute & Wikileaks, both won a badge of honor by being claimed to be "Fake News" and "Russian Propaganda" in the Washington Post's "news" section. Sources: [Article in question](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/2016/11/24/793903b6-8a40-4ca9-b712-716af66098fe_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-prop...) [The Source that Article Cites](http://www.propornot.com/p/the-list.html http://www.propornot.com/p/the-list.html) Truly shameful journalism by the Washington Post.

bootload 10y ago
The fact a candidate was scuppered does't mean fake news isn't a problem. "Disclosure: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of Jared Kushner, the publisher of Observer Media." And this disclaimer at the bottom.
- wallace_f 10y ago
  > The fact a candidate was scuppered does't mean fake news isn't a problem. Sure, I agree with you, it's a problem - actually, the article I linked to doesn't deny that. In fact, it actually says that in the title. From the article I linked: > WikiLeaks emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta implicated several mainstream media journalists in colluding with the Clinton campaign. > In 1983, 50 corporations controlled most of the media in the United States. By 2000, that number had dropped to six corporations What's scary is the US media is trying to marginalize independent media, for reasons of erroneous reporting, however they're also guilty and have been caught red handed of "fake news." The increasing monopoly on disseminating information to the public, along with declining press freedoms, declining freedom of speech and evidence the US Gov't is engaging in propaganda inside the US is all a very scary and disturbing trend. Technology won't matter too much anymore if our civil liberties are gone.
  - bootload 10y ago
    "What's scary is the US media is trying to marginalise independent media, for reasons of erroneous reporting, however they're also guilty and have been caught red handed of "fake news." These are good points @wallace_f. "Technology won't matter too much anymore if our civil liberties are gone." Yes.

mindcrime 10y ago

It's not just "fake news" in the sense of stories that are made up from "whole cloth" so to speak... we have an equally large problem with "fake news" which is nominally real, but has been spun, distorted and tweaked so as to promote on agenda or another. Mix "fake" news and "fake" news together and the whole mix is just one big fester cesspool of malfeasance. It really makes it hard to know what to believe. I mean, if you read a post from the "Denver Tribune" you know that's fake, since there is no such outlet. But if you read something on CNN or MSNBC, why would you believe it when you know about the various shady schemes going on where journalists and politicians conspire with each other behind the scenes, etc? Or if a paper reports "numbers" (jobs data, climate data, etc.) from the government, why believe those number are real? The more you think about it, the harder it is to take anything at face value. In the end, it takes a lot of work, that most people probably aren't willing to do, to try and filter this stuff out. I mean, you can read/watch/listen to news from multiple sources, and look for the commonalities, or analyze news with an eye for known existing biases, etc. Or if you're equipped to do so, you can do you own statistical analysis on the numbers your given and see if they make sense. But realistically, how many people are going to expend all that effort?

bootload 10y ago
"you can read/watch/listen to news from multiple sources, and look for the commonalities, or analyze news with an eye for known existing biases, etc. Or if you're equipped to do so, you can do you own statistical analysis on the numbers your given and see if they make sense. But realistically, how many people are going to expend all that effort?" Good point. This is why knowing who writes the articles and knowing sources matter. When a serious news article is written, journalists cross-check the facts. In the Watergate scandal, Woodwood/Bernstein used three different sources for each assertion. [0] The source, "Deep Throat" who remained anonymous for many years was the deputy director of the FBI at the time. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal#Role_of_the_media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal#Role_of_the_...

DefaultUserHN 10y ago

The only #FakeNews I saw this election cycle is all those fake polls by the mainstream media.