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Fake news and Reality

I'm a newbie and thought I'd do my first post! (Probably some vain attempt of community acceptance!) šŸ˜‰

Do people find that they have become so disheartened and untrusting of even the most tame of news headline, that they even fact check headlines that support their own belief bias?

GilesD 5 Apr 16
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16 comments

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Yes, but requires careful checking. I always check multiple sources. Often the bias is simply the order and emphasis put on specific stories.

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There are several good sources of news that are now and always have been 99% reliable. But everyone has become their own publisher with "social media" and share the crap they pick up from others that freakin' made it up. This allows people to filter, invent and promote their own twisted angles with no repercussions. And for those other entities with far more evil intent to cheaply and quickly dominate the social media with intentionally-misleading garbage. It's up to us to fact-check and challenge the lazy fake-news spreaders. Here's a helpful guide. Not perfect, but helpful.

Surprised Fox News was placed so high!
Iā€™m from the UK and the BBC has been in free fall imho.

On a serious note; love the graphic but this is a typical example of ā€œopinion presented as credible factā€ because the graphic cites no source on which the positioning of the media outlets is determined!

I like the graphic and agree with it but all Iā€™m doing is applying ā€œconformational biasā€.

@GilesD The graphic is a couple years old and since then Fox "News" has plummeted (my opinion) due to partnering with Trump. I've used this for my own use for quickly checking on fringe sources which all take extreme positions and spew garbage.

@LetzGetReal did Elvis just leave the room?

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Question everything.

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Sadly, I rather doubt it, in this day and age of instant gratification. Welcome to the community by the way.

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I think it's also the framing of the facts that makes a difference. The same known facts could be reported two different ways, eg.

"Burglar armed with a screwdriver is killed by elderly homeowner protecting his dementia suffering wife"

and....

"Knife welding ex forces 72 year old chases down burglar who dies from the stab wounds in the street".

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Yes. This is the world we now live in.

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I trust MSNBC and CNN above all else.

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Sometimes

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Experience teaches us which news sources tend to be reliable and which do not. Before I would believe it, I would fact-check everyword that comes from Fox "News."

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I do not find it to be fictional however it is glorified beyond the original account. For instant, the ICBM alarm was sounded in Hawaii a few months back the news kept making like Trump sounded the alarm. In reality on page 4 in tinny print, a worker at the destination site set the alarm off by accident.

When I heard the news, no one even mentioned Trump. I did not feel that is what they presented, however, your news may be different. I watch David Muir which I think is ABC. I feel they are very good at presenting just the news. However, I wish they would go into more details on some of the stories. They may read one line and and I am thinking, "well why and what happened?"

@terrygerry1 I watched Diane Sawyer for years what a perfect woman and a excellent news caster.

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When Reagan/Bush ended the "Fairness Doctrine", it let news covereage drift out ot extremist viewpoints, and without rebuttle, new sources put less effort into fact checking (Fox doesnt' do it at all), and so our news sources have becoem mroe liek super market tabloids.

About the only sources left for good factural reporting is ht eBBC or NPR, but they are slipping too.

@LetzGetReal Well, Eisenhower did warn us about the "Military Industrial Complex". I think that because politicans are beholden to campaign contributors, corporate or otherwise, it kind of undernines the idea of a representative government, as the only persons represented are large political campaign contributors. Their interests and efforts to maintain their power, may act like a "deep state".

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Why are you in need of community acceptance?

Self deprecation is my best quality. Or is it self defication. Oh ffs, now Iā€™m shiting myself! Nurse Nurse! šŸ˜‰

@GilesD You be Fine We Are the Craziest and You Are Home. Welcome Welcome!!!

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I tend to believe news sources that report events in a strictly factual manner without a bias for either "side." I always check to see where any social media "news" post originated. If it's a well-known publication (e.g., WSJ, USA Today, NYT, NPR, BBC), I will read it. I discount articles posted by obviously slanted publications (e.g., Vanity Fair) even if I tend to agree with their opinions. I ignore anything from a site I don't recognize because I doubt that it will be unbiased and factual. Journalism, she ain't what she used to be. šŸ˜Ÿ

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I am not disheartened at the news of reputable papers or cable outlets. If they get something wrong they will correct it. It is a matter of paying attention.

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I do it more often than I used to, and we tend to be an accepting bunch. Welcome!

Same here.

1

Welcome to the asylum. Enjoy your stay.
I check most news stories for their credibility, regardless of their source.

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