5 ms·

For some reason I really like the phenomenon of "Fake News". It was an idea launched fairly quickly right after the election. It spread fast. All over the news.

by rdtsc 10y ago

For some reason I really like the phenomenon of "Fake News". It was an idea launched fairly quickly right after the election. It spread fast. All over the news. The media, and even Facebook and Google throwing their weight behind it. Nobody quite knew what it was. Was it just Lizard People news or did it include all news from Fox or just some. Was it just Macedonian teenagers making money or was CNN also Fake News. Then something happened. The mass media channels which invented and promoted Fake News ended up being labeled by it. Search for "Fake News" in image search on Google and CNN is right there. That was not the intended result I am sure. So the last I heard the idea is to now retire it due to inconvenience: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/its-time-to-retire-the-tainted-term-fake-news/2017/01/06/a5a7516c-d375-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html?utm_term=.0ec4321e17f6 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/its-time-to-r... There is something sad and ironic about it. There is a pr lesson there as well perhaps...

tritosomal 10y ago
I mean Fox News, though. Seriously the fakest of Fake News. Everything Rupert Murdoch has ever touched in his entire Mr. Burns life reeks worse than a Russian oligarch's toe jam, if you were curious about my opinion. And his children still live and breathe.
- dotnetisnotdead 10y ago
  See this is the problem. Way too much groupthink nowadays. Do you honestly think Fox News is all fake? Hint: it's not. I'm a lifelong democrat but here's where last November's events hit me even harder than most: I know we earned it. We've been allowing CNN, MSNBC, etc to slam Trump left and right. Does he deserve it? Of course he does! The problem is they stand from an authority position with presumed partiality and they are absolutely biased. News flash folks: the giant cheeto is absolutely right about that. And they DO NOT get right 100% of the time, yet Fox News does the same thing and we slam them for it! It's absolute nonsense and it's how we got here. By being divided and pretending we aren't doing what our "enemy" is. The MLK bust thing is a great example. The crowds? Not that it should even matter but the picture being passed around and paraded all over CNN and 10,000 memes everywhere was a picture taken BEFORE the inauguration got under way. Though I do not believe Trump had a bigger crowd than Obama, it was bigger than what CNN was showing you and making a big deal out of it. These. Things. Matter. There are so many simple examples, if you call Fox News fake you have to call all of them fake.
  - tritosomal 10y ago
    If it actually mattered, then ISIS wouldn't exist, because we wouldn't have invaded Iraq for laughs. But Fox News was pretty cool about making sure there was popular support for the Iraq war, and plenty of it. Who cares about what happens anymore, when I'm supposed to each shit sandwiches like these.
    - dotnetisnotdead 10y ago
      You're absolutely right about that, they spun the wars pretty hard and the other media outlets criticized them... until BO took office.
      - tritosomal 10y ago
        Yes, when that happened the Fox News constituency took it about as hard as the rest of the world is taking Trump right now. Indeed, the note of defeat in your average Fox News personality's voice was palpable. They were washed up has-beens for the next few years and they knew it. In terms of a 24 hour news cycle that's eons.
    - dotnetisnotdead 10y ago
      Here is one thing Fox News does do: give us information about things the rest of them don't want to think about. Ever see what happens to coverage when a shooter/attacker is Muslim? 8:30am (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News) MASS SHOOTER AT UNIVERSITY!!! FRONT PAGE!! Information Released that suspect is Somali immigrant 8:40am (Fox News ) Police are saying shooter is Somali immigrant (CNN et al) Leaves up original page with update added that shooter may be a Somali immigrant Information released it was a Somali immigrant, who is Muslim and praises ISIS, and used a knife 9:00am (Fox News) Information was released it was a Somali immigrant, who is Muslim and praises ISIS, and used a knife (CNN et al) Front page: Look! someone taught a dog how to water ski!! The rest of the day Fox details the history of the suspect, pictures and supporting info and the others bury it completely. This has happened numerous times over the last few months. Is this better for us?
- sctb 10y ago
  This account has been posting plenty of uncivil and unsubstantive comments. We have to ask you to please stop and re-read the guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
kneel 10y ago
The country went through mass hysteria after the election, first it was fake news, then russian hackers, then the usual blaming of demographs. The news media was completely upended by Trump. He seemingly has a reality distortion field of his own. His first couple of days in office have been spent at war with the media, this is precedent being set. No doubt that Steve Bannon is pulling strings already. I think we're going to see a brand new propaganda machine set up by his administration. It'll be interesting how they deal with the rapid fire groupthink that seems to patrol the internet nowadays. I definitely don't think this is comparable to anything that's happened before.
- cmurf 10y ago
  Confabulation.
- jakeogh 10y ago
  All of that is true, except (I bet) your prediction at the end. The reason he is such a threat to the established power is because he directly threatens their propaganda system. It's not a given that Trump will replace it with his own. We (in the US) legalized domestic funding of disinformation years ago. Enlisted PSYOP people have been in the major news agencies for a long time.
- akvadrako 10y ago
  Hey now, give Trump a chance to play with his existing toys before expecting yet another machine. There is this great one Obama signed into law around Christmas[1]: > [The Global Engagement Center is] an interagency center housed at the State Department to coordinate and synchronize counter-propaganda efforts throughout the U.S. government. [The effort should] counter foreign propaganda and disinformation directed against United States national security interests and proactively advance fact-based narratives that support United States allies and interests. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_and_Disinformation_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_...
JohnTHaller 10y ago
Quite a few of us have been discussing fake/biased news for well over a year. When your feed shows you fake news people share from Brietbart and BlueNationReview, you tend to notice it.
komerdoor 10y ago
You noticed the same as I did. Google trends etc. will also show you this exact pattern and when exactly this "Fake News"-calling started. After a while it backfired when the ones they called "Fake News" pointed out how they are also reporting many things incorrectly. Source: https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&q=fake%20news https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&q=fa... After a while they even started to use it in Europe and how our elections may also be affected by "Fake News" and how Russia is planting this. They even started EU government programs to counteract "Fake News" even on schools. Source (how to recognize fake news school program in the Netherlands): https://www.weekvandemediawijsheid.nl/mediamasters-university/ https://www.weekvandemediawijsheid.nl/mediamasters-universit... and https://www.omroepflevoland.nl/nieuws/141814/almere-bieb-verspreidt-nep-nieuws-in-week-van-de-mediawijsheid https://www.omroepflevoland.nl/nieuws/141814/almere-bieb-ver... This must all have been set up long time before they started to use it. The only thing this did for me is making me take everything (all sides) less seriously. I cannot believe to live in a world like this where people keep this going while we talk about people their lives, health and our future. It should not be like a joke, it was all too obvious. Still many people think it is really something without there being any real proof of what it actually is. One of the claimed proof of what they call "Fake News" (used many times to proof the existence of it) is someone (then unknown by all sides) that created an article about protesters being bused in by Soros or something while proven to not be true. The whole situation was too weird when people started to research the author. Source: http://www.snopes.com/anti-trump-protesters-bused-into-austin/ http://www.snopes.com/anti-trump-protesters-bused-into-austi... In reality Soros and his organizations (many part of the EU as well) sponsored and influenced many protests and still do. Read the leaked open society emails to learn about that. Source: http://soros.dcleaks.com http://soros.dcleaks.com and http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/01/20/billionaire-george-soros-has-ties-to-more-than-50-partners-of-the-womens-march-on-washington http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/01/20/billio... To be honest, while living in the EU, I am afraid to tell people how I see things (and I still try to be objective) because it is all getting more violent by the day. This is mostly still confined to the internet but I can already see this changing all around me especially with the EU elections nearing.

by rdtsc 10y ago

tritosomal 10y ago

I mean Fox News, though. Seriously the fakest of Fake News. Everything Rupert Murdoch has ever touched in his entire Mr. Burns life reeks worse than a Russian oligarch's toe jam, if you were curious about my opinion. And his children still live and breathe.

dotnetisnotdead 10y ago
See this is the problem. Way too much groupthink nowadays. Do you honestly think Fox News is all fake? Hint: it's not. I'm a lifelong democrat but here's where last November's events hit me even harder than most: I know we earned it. We've been allowing CNN, MSNBC, etc to slam Trump left and right. Does he deserve it? Of course he does! The problem is they stand from an authority position with presumed partiality and they are absolutely biased. News flash folks: the giant cheeto is absolutely right about that. And they DO NOT get right 100% of the time, yet Fox News does the same thing and we slam them for it! It's absolute nonsense and it's how we got here. By being divided and pretending we aren't doing what our "enemy" is. The MLK bust thing is a great example. The crowds? Not that it should even matter but the picture being passed around and paraded all over CNN and 10,000 memes everywhere was a picture taken BEFORE the inauguration got under way. Though I do not believe Trump had a bigger crowd than Obama, it was bigger than what CNN was showing you and making a big deal out of it. These. Things. Matter. There are so many simple examples, if you call Fox News fake you have to call all of them fake.
- tritosomal 10y ago
  If it actually mattered, then ISIS wouldn't exist, because we wouldn't have invaded Iraq for laughs. But Fox News was pretty cool about making sure there was popular support for the Iraq war, and plenty of it. Who cares about what happens anymore, when I'm supposed to each shit sandwiches like these.
  - dotnetisnotdead 10y ago
    You're absolutely right about that, they spun the wars pretty hard and the other media outlets criticized them... until BO took office.
    - tritosomal 10y ago
      Yes, when that happened the Fox News constituency took it about as hard as the rest of the world is taking Trump right now. Indeed, the note of defeat in your average Fox News personality's voice was palpable. They were washed up has-beens for the next few years and they knew it. In terms of a 24 hour news cycle that's eons.
  - dotnetisnotdead 10y ago
    Here is one thing Fox News does do: give us information about things the rest of them don't want to think about. Ever see what happens to coverage when a shooter/attacker is Muslim? 8:30am (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News) MASS SHOOTER AT UNIVERSITY!!! FRONT PAGE!! Information Released that suspect is Somali immigrant 8:40am (Fox News ) Police are saying shooter is Somali immigrant (CNN et al) Leaves up original page with update added that shooter may be a Somali immigrant Information released it was a Somali immigrant, who is Muslim and praises ISIS, and used a knife 9:00am (Fox News) Information was released it was a Somali immigrant, who is Muslim and praises ISIS, and used a knife (CNN et al) Front page: Look! someone taught a dog how to water ski!! The rest of the day Fox details the history of the suspect, pictures and supporting info and the others bury it completely. This has happened numerous times over the last few months. Is this better for us?
sctb 10y ago
This account has been posting plenty of uncivil and unsubstantive comments. We have to ask you to please stop and re-read the guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

kneel 10y ago

The country went through mass hysteria after the election, first it was fake news, then russian hackers, then the usual blaming of demographs. The news media was completely upended by Trump. He seemingly has a reality distortion field of his own. His first couple of days in office have been spent at war with the media, this is precedent being set. No doubt that Steve Bannon is pulling strings already. I think we're going to see a brand new propaganda machine set up by his administration. It'll be interesting how they deal with the rapid fire groupthink that seems to patrol the internet nowadays. I definitely don't think this is comparable to anything that's happened before.

cmurf 10y ago
Confabulation.
jakeogh 10y ago
All of that is true, except (I bet) your prediction at the end. The reason he is such a threat to the established power is because he directly threatens their propaganda system. It's not a given that Trump will replace it with his own. We (in the US) legalized domestic funding of disinformation years ago. Enlisted PSYOP people have been in the major news agencies for a long time.
akvadrako 10y ago
Hey now, give Trump a chance to play with his existing toys before expecting yet another machine. There is this great one Obama signed into law around Christmas[1]: > [The Global Engagement Center is] an interagency center housed at the State Department to coordinate and synchronize counter-propaganda efforts throughout the U.S. government. [The effort should] counter foreign propaganda and disinformation directed against United States national security interests and proactively advance fact-based narratives that support United States allies and interests. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_and_Disinformation_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_...

JohnTHaller 10y ago

Quite a few of us have been discussing fake/biased news for well over a year. When your feed shows you fake news people share from Brietbart and BlueNationReview, you tend to notice it.

komerdoor 10y ago

You noticed the same as I did. Google trends etc. will also show you this exact pattern and when exactly this "Fake News"-calling started. After a while it backfired when the ones they called "Fake News" pointed out how they are also reporting many things incorrectly. Source: https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&q=fake%20news https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&q=fa... After a while they even started to use it in Europe and how our elections may also be affected by "Fake News" and how Russia is planting this. They even started EU government programs to counteract "Fake News" even on schools. Source (how to recognize fake news school program in the Netherlands): https://www.weekvandemediawijsheid.nl/mediamasters-university/ https://www.weekvandemediawijsheid.nl/mediamasters-universit... and https://www.omroepflevoland.nl/nieuws/141814/almere-bieb-verspreidt-nep-nieuws-in-week-van-de-mediawijsheid https://www.omroepflevoland.nl/nieuws/141814/almere-bieb-ver... This must all have been set up long time before they started to use it. The only thing this did for me is making me take everything (all sides) less seriously. I cannot believe to live in a world like this where people keep this going while we talk about people their lives, health and our future. It should not be like a joke, it was all too obvious. Still many people think it is really something without there being any real proof of what it actually is. One of the claimed proof of what they call "Fake News" (used many times to proof the existence of it) is someone (then unknown by all sides) that created an article about protesters being bused in by Soros or something while proven to not be true. The whole situation was too weird when people started to research the author. Source: http://www.snopes.com/anti-trump-protesters-bused-into-austin/ http://www.snopes.com/anti-trump-protesters-bused-into-austi... In reality Soros and his organizations (many part of the EU as well) sponsored and influenced many protests and still do. Read the leaked open society emails to learn about that. Source: http://soros.dcleaks.com http://soros.dcleaks.com and http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/01/20/billionaire-george-soros-has-ties-to-more-than-50-partners-of-the-womens-march-on-washington http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/01/20/billio... To be honest, while living in the EU, I am afraid to tell people how I see things (and I still try to be objective) because it is all getting more violent by the day. This is mostly still confined to the internet but I can already see this changing all around me especially with the EU elections nearing.