5 ms·

tl;dr: My impression is that if we checked the narrative of the left with the same rigor we use for that of the right, a lot of news would disappear from social

by Udik 6y ago

tl;dr: My impression is that if we checked the narrative of the left with the same rigor we use for that of the right, a lot of news would disappear from social media. This WP title and article: http://archive.is/GvfHd http://archive.is/GvfHd It proclaims, without a hint of a doubt: "A ‘mass invasion’ of polar bears is terrorizing an island town. Climate change is to blame." The article is about a single episode of a population of polar bears feeding off a garbage dump in a remote Russian village. It's hard (or just simply wrong) to attribute a single episode to a global climate shift. And experts have pointed out that the bears appear well fed and that garbage can be attractive to them [1]. The article ends by linking the "heartbreaking video" of a sick, emaciated polar bear wandering somewhere in Canada. The video was widely spread as a proof of climate change harm to polar bears, but experts said it was probably just a sick individual. National Geographic itself had to publish a correction a year later [2]. Now imagine a conservative media making such quick connections between, say, a bump in immigration rates and a crime. Or even saying: "that crime spree? Immigration is to blame". That's obvious fake news, right? [1] https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/12/18222072/polar-bear-invasion-novaya-zemlya-russia-garbage-climate-change https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/12/18222072/polar-bear-invas... [2] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/08/explore-through-the-lens-starving-polar-bear-photo/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/08/explore-...

ianleeclark 6y ago
Climate change isn't a partisan issue. Policy will be, but the "narrative," as you call it is established science. > Now imagine a conservative media making such quick connections between, say, a bump in immigration rates and a crime. Or even saying: "that crime spree? Immigration is to blame". That's obvious fake news, right? Both illegal and legal immigrant groups have lower incarceration rates than native born Americans. So, whenever a right-wing pundit says that immigration is to blame for crime rising, there likely is statistical fuckery or outright lies. However, it is hilarious how, even while being treated with kid gloves, you are still whinging about there being a bias against the right wing.
- Udik 6y ago
  > Both illegal and legal immigrant groups have lower incarceration rates than native born Americans. So, whenever a right-wing pundit says that immigration is to blame for crime rising, there likely is statistical fuckery or outright lies. I needed an example and honestly made up one- I had no idea of the situation in the US and I find these statistics very interesting, thanks! The reason I chose this particular example is because in Italy- where I'm from- the statistics are the total opposite: more than 1/3 of all inmates are foreigners, with some ethnicities wildly over-represented in proportion to their share in the population. The connection between immigration and crime rates is one of the most used right-wing arguments and topic of contention between left and right in Italy.
  - foldr 6y ago
    The figures for Italy are skewed by pre-trial detention, which is disproportionately applied to immigrants: https://openmigration.org/en/op-ed/foreign-detainees-in-europe-and-in-italy/#:~:text=In%20Italy%2C%20foreign%20detainees%20are,above%20of%20the%20European%20average https://openmigration.org/en/op-ed/foreign-detainees-in-euro....
    - Udik 6y ago
      Slightly skewed. According to ISTAT, Italy's official statistics agency, foreigners are 32.6% of people convicted for any crime and almost 37% of the inmates population. https://www.istat.it/it/immigrati/prodotti-editoriali/criminalit%C3%A0 https://www.istat.it/it/immigrati/prodotti-editoriali/crimin... According to this article that aims to prove that "immigrants committing more crimes than natives" is fake news, "On the total of the extra-EU immigrants that are trialed for any crime, the illegal ones are 70% of the total for voluntary causing harm, 75% for homicides, and 85% for burglaries and robberies". And illegal immigrants are just about 10% of the legal ones. https://www.fanpage.it/politica/la-grande-bufala-degli-stranieri-che-commettono-piu-reati-degli-italiani/ https://www.fanpage.it/politica/la-grande-bufala-degli-stran...
      - foldr 6y ago
rbg246 6y ago
This is so brilliant I can't tell if you are writing satire or are serious!

by Udik 6y ago

ianleeclark 6y ago

Climate change isn't a partisan issue. Policy will be, but the "narrative," as you call it is established science. > Now imagine a conservative media making such quick connections between, say, a bump in immigration rates and a crime. Or even saying: "that crime spree? Immigration is to blame". That's obvious fake news, right? Both illegal and legal immigrant groups have lower incarceration rates than native born Americans. So, whenever a right-wing pundit says that immigration is to blame for crime rising, there likely is statistical fuckery or outright lies. However, it is hilarious how, even while being treated with kid gloves, you are still whinging about there being a bias against the right wing.

Udik 6y ago
> Both illegal and legal immigrant groups have lower incarceration rates than native born Americans. So, whenever a right-wing pundit says that immigration is to blame for crime rising, there likely is statistical fuckery or outright lies. I needed an example and honestly made up one- I had no idea of the situation in the US and I find these statistics very interesting, thanks! The reason I chose this particular example is because in Italy- where I'm from- the statistics are the total opposite: more than 1/3 of all inmates are foreigners, with some ethnicities wildly over-represented in proportion to their share in the population. The connection between immigration and crime rates is one of the most used right-wing arguments and topic of contention between left and right in Italy.
- foldr 6y ago
  The figures for Italy are skewed by pre-trial detention, which is disproportionately applied to immigrants: https://openmigration.org/en/op-ed/foreign-detainees-in-europe-and-in-italy/#:~:text=In%20Italy%2C%20foreign%20detainees%20are,above%20of%20the%20European%20average https://openmigration.org/en/op-ed/foreign-detainees-in-euro....
  - Udik 6y ago
    Slightly skewed. According to ISTAT, Italy's official statistics agency, foreigners are 32.6% of people convicted for any crime and almost 37% of the inmates population. https://www.istat.it/it/immigrati/prodotti-editoriali/criminalit%C3%A0 https://www.istat.it/it/immigrati/prodotti-editoriali/crimin... According to this article that aims to prove that "immigrants committing more crimes than natives" is fake news, "On the total of the extra-EU immigrants that are trialed for any crime, the illegal ones are 70% of the total for voluntary causing harm, 75% for homicides, and 85% for burglaries and robberies". And illegal immigrants are just about 10% of the legal ones. https://www.fanpage.it/politica/la-grande-bufala-degli-stranieri-che-commettono-piu-reati-degli-italiani/ https://www.fanpage.it/politica/la-grande-bufala-degli-stran...
    - foldr 6y ago

rbg246 6y ago

This is so brilliant I can't tell if you are writing satire or are serious!