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2020 reaffirmed to me that people are only interested in "their truth". News in the U.S. became entertainment. Facts take a back seat to a strong opinion. If e

2020 reaffirmed to me that people are only interested in "their truth". News in the U.S. became entertainment. Facts take a back seat to a strong opinion. If eyes and ears were on real news nobody would have ever cared about what is being shared on Facebook. Long gone is the standard bar set by the Journalist's Creed [1] in 1914. To quote parts: "I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust." "I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible." "I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service." We have a number of news outlets just this week going back in time and quietly adjusting/censoring their own stories because they got some covid-19 "facts" wrong. Truth embraces truth. Intelligence clings to intelligence. We needed the scientific method last year. Many intellectuals were forced to hide in a figurative hole. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalist%27s_Creed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalist%27s_Creed

Rebelgecko 5y ago
TBH I have my doubts about how effective "facts" are at actually changing peoples minds and influencing behavior (as opposed to just being something people share on Facebook to validate their preconceived notions)
- procombo 5y ago
  If the fact givers go away then you're not giving them much of an option, right? People are predictable. If you can manipulate facts then you can control output. Hence the societal importace of getting real fact-givers again. The whole "we feel justified lying about the benefits of X and Y because it gets a desired result" only works if you can keep it a secret. Which they won't be able to regarding 2020.

Rebelgecko 5y ago

TBH I have my doubts about how effective "facts" are at actually changing peoples minds and influencing behavior (as opposed to just being something people share on Facebook to validate their preconceived notions)

procombo 5y ago
If the fact givers go away then you're not giving them much of an option, right? People are predictable. If you can manipulate facts then you can control output. Hence the societal importace of getting real fact-givers again. The whole "we feel justified lying about the benefits of X and Y because it gets a desired result" only works if you can keep it a secret. Which they won't be able to regarding 2020.