5 ms·
Well there are a lot of possibilites: 1) The story is true but not meant for our eyes, 2) The story is true and meant for our eyes, but they can't officially s
by mikedilger 6y ago
Well there are a lot of possibilites:
1) The story is true but not meant for our eyes,
2) The story is true and meant for our eyes, but they can't officially say so or haven't yet prepared their statement,
3) The story is false and meant for our eyes as a form of propaganda,
4) ... other options
I think the best course of action is to treat the story as if it never happened. I'm utterly exhausted by what appears to be repeated propaganda via the US news media, covering their asses with this very tired "anonymous source" trick. If the source is anonymous it garners zero trust, and you just fool yourself if you think otherwise and choose to believe it because it is exciting/scary/wishful/etc... unless you trust these particular media sources (I don't). I'm fairly sure that most of the anonymous leaks during the Russia Collusion investigation turned out to be false propaganda.
If the government wants to warn us of something, they have to actually do that -- they can't play these games and presume we are going to react (if option 2) because we are exhausted by manipulation. I will take it seriously as soon as (and only if) the FBI takes communicating it seriously.
- brundolf 6y ago> The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Anonymous to readers != anonymous to the journalist. The journalist can verify the source, and also guard his or her anonymity for their safety. This is common practice in journalism.
- poilcn 6y agoThe problem of "who will guard the guards themselves". It's "common practice" because it gives unrestricted ability to fabricate any kind of narration without repercussions as nobody can verify it.
- brundolf 6y agoOkay, bud. If you're going to make a blanket assertion that the entire journalistic field is nothing but a propaganda machine then there's really nothing I can do for you.
- Fjolsvith 6y agoThere is a huge reputation problem with the media these days. Bombshell headlines of Trump-Russia collusion evidence comes to mind, driven by anonymous sources.
- st1ck 6y agoI wouldn't be worried too much about fabrication by journalists. I assume most of those "leaks" are intentionally dispersed by 3-letter agencies as kind of unofficial press releases.
- TearsInTheRain 6y agoWhat are the odds the feds found a 4chan et al poster spoofing an armed protest and are just so on edge they are taking it seriously? Then some unnamed low level official leaks it to his press buddies and all of a sudden our country is in crisis again.