Fake News

You really have to be on your toes with news these days – and that takes work! We now have a superabundance of news sources. International news is easily accessible. Social media is awash with ‘information’. But how much of it is true? What is biased, exaggerated, cleverly spun, or just plain fabricated?

The world wide web (www) was supposed to join us together – and I suppose that means, unify us. However, if anything the world seems to have become more divisive. Opposing groups are accusing each other of broadcasting ‘fake news’.

So how can we discern which news is reliable and which is not? One way is to look at a number of differing news sources and then use your own reasoning faculties to decide. However, this takes time and many busy people just don’t have the time to listen to, or read a wide variety of news sources. Also, the above assumes that one has a good analytical sense and that comes from a well rounded education. To further complicate the issue, modern psychology informs us that our decisions are made in the domain of emotion, not in the realm of the intellect. Having prejudged most issues, we then proceed to rationalize our pre-set decisions. This is something that we all need to be aware of and guard against as best we can.

There is however one technique that can help us to discern what is reliable news. The best news sources will present more than one point of view on a given issue. Moreover, a good news source will admit when they have erred.

Recently CNN published an item that was not thoroughly fact checked. They promptly admitted it and three CNN personnel resigned as a result. A good sign. Try as I can, I cannot recall President Trump or his media operatives ever admitting to having made any mistakes, even when their errors are obvious.

Presently Aljazeera news is under attack. Because of their courageous and balanced news reporting, they have made many enemies among authoritarian governments in the Middle East region. During the present dispute, Aljazeera has admitted going somewhat overboard in reporting news of the ‘Arab Spring’. They also have admitted having difficulties in being critical of Qatar, the country in which Aljazeera is located. Again this self criticism is a healthy sign.

Here then are two good criteria to help us to discern which are reliable news sources. They are not afraid of reporting different, opposing points of view, and they are willing to admit publicly when they are wrong.