Fake News

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gaffo
Posts: 4259
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 3:15 am

Re: Fake News

Post by gaffo »

commonsense wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:18 pm We are bombarded by news, both fake and real, on a daily basis. We tend to believe news that supports our opinions and distrust news that does not. What advice do you have about how to distinguish between these two kinds of news?
advice?

listen to S&G "the boxer" - take the lyrics to heart, then ask yourself if you as a person applies to the song.


if so then ask yourself why, then view your confirmation bias "news" source to re-inforce your bias.

if the song does not ally to you, then more power to you and continue you journey toward objective new - real news - to become a more informed citizen of whatever nation you are a citizen thereof.
gaffo
Posts: 4259
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 3:15 am

Re: Fake News

Post by gaffo »

commonsense wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:26 pm by Sir-Sister-of-Suck » Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:19 pm
...I think CNN is also extremely guilty of doing this.

by Greta » Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:49 pm
Fox is the champion....


Common sense says

Yes. Both sides are slanting their presentations of the news. Even their headlines contain subtle elements of persuasion. Compare the following (ersatz) headlines for what is said and how it is said:

So-and-so Slams Such-and-such
So-and-so Disagrees with Such-and-such
Such-and-such Slammed by So-and-so

Faux "News" is clearly Rightist Provda.
CNN is neutral - but poor journalism - facts are often wrong or lacking generally. BBC is also neutral and better. Reuters of the currently the best neutral news source and usually solid in facts.
MSNBC is clearly Leftist Provda.

2 cents.
commonsense
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Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:38 pm

Re: Fake News

Post by commonsense »

As for me, I think CNN is just a little bit left of center on occasion. Sometimes it's the headline or banner that colors the objective news that follows. I'll provide an example when I come across one again.
Skip
Posts: 2820
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:34 pm

Re: Fake News

Post by Skip »

How do you tell:

1. Listen to the tone - in print, the language and punctuation. Is it even, calm, reasonable, or hectic, jerky, emotional?
2. Is the journalist asking relevant questions? Is he or she covering the topic comprehensively or selectively?
3.Compare with other news media: how did other newspapers and broadcasters present the same story?
4. Compare statistics: In a news report, there are often numbers - of casualties, cost, time, revenues, population, loss - whatever. Most of these numbers are "estimated" (guesses) and many come from authoritative sources. If you look up (on independent websites, eg) the facts and numbers for constants, you can tell how close (or far) a given news outlet is in its estimates.
5.Check their sources. Does a news report cite the same few talking heads every time, or does it bring in specialist in specific areas?
Do affiliated stations or newspapers all rely on the same news feed?
6. Check the ownership. There are very few independent news outlets. Those papers, or radio stations or television networks that are all owned by the same corporation will likely have the same policy constraints; they will corroborate one another's reports. Compare them to the outlets of a competing organization.
7. Test the content against foreign news reports: people who live far away might have a more objective viewpoint.

The single most important fact-checker is common sense. Does the report seem probable? Does it fit your observations of reality? Is it internally consistent? Is it consistent with what you previously knew of the subject?
Science Fan
Posts: 843
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 5:01 pm

Re: Fake News

Post by Science Fan »

First of all, I disagree with 1's assertion that this question is not philosophical, because it cannot be answered. That's typically the type of questions philosophy does address, and your question is an epistemological one, regarding knowledge.

I don't think there is a final answer that can be given for this question, but we can make progress, as others have noted above, by pointing out specific things to look for. I typically ask myself, "how could someone know such a thing?" when addressing the validity of a person's claim.

As an example, FOX News, after the latest shooting in Florida, involving high-school children, claimed that the reason the shootings occurred was because the FBI was spending too much time investigating Trump. This was a claim made repeatedly by Fox News, without any factual support. That was an example of fake news --- an outright lie to promote a political agenda. After all, how could FOX News know such a thing? They would not have had sufficient time to assess what other work the people working on the Trump investigation would have been doing. They also provided no information that would have justified arresting the shooter before the shooting occurred, based on a tip from a person who ran across a statement from the shooter on social media that he wanted to be a professional school shooter, or something like that. In the USA, it is legal to make such statements, and no one could be prosecuted for such a statement, or arrested. One could not even have their guns taken away from them for making such a statement, because that would be an intrusion on their First Amendment rights. Had the person written that he was going to gun down people tomorrow, or within the hour, then that could be a different story, but what he wrote was not at all in violation of the law in the USA. So, FOX had zero basis for its claim. There is no possible way any FOX reporter could know what they were claiming was even remotely true.
Dalek Prime
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Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 4:48 am
Location: Living in a tree with Polly.

Re: Fake News

Post by Dalek Prime »

Yesterday, someone tried to tell me John Travolta had died. Without checking, I knew that was BS.
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