• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Fake News/Media Syndrome

How serious is fake or erroneous news

  • Total voters
    55
AlbqOwl

AlbqOwl

DP Veteran
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
23,580
Reaction score
12,388
Location
New Mexico
Gender
Female
Political Leaning
Independent
I hope it is possible at DP to have a serious, civil discussion re the serious business of media coverage that is:

1. Biased to the point of dishonesty
2. Erroneous to the point of incompetence
3. Fake news in that it is information created or repeated or represented in a way that is deliberately false.

Based on posts and people recruited to be talking heads on television, it seems obvious some think this syndrome doesn't exist at all or it is purely an invention of Fox News. Others are diligently pointing out that it does exist and is mean, cruel, hateful, and detrimental to us as a society whether in the mainstream media, on the internet, or on social media.

So what do you think? This is the thread to express your opinions and impressions and also to post examples of fake/erroneous/misrepresented news that you run across and/or examples of news labeled 'fake' that turned out to be true.
 
I'll start with this piece from the Daily Caller listing seven times this year that CNN has botched or put out fake/erroneous news:

LIST: CNN's Fake News Stories In 2017 | The Daily Caller

These include:
--Comey testimony
--Scaramucci smear
--Fake news about fake news
--Feeding fish in Japan
--The President's knowledge of Japanese cars
--Funding of the Dossier
--Don Jr. and Wikilieaks

And that's just CNN. Let's see other examples or examples of news declared fake that was actually true.
 
Here is another one that @Lowdown posted recently re the New York Times and K.T. McFarland:

New York Times forced to heavily amend another supposed K.T. McFarland 'scoop'

The problem is not that they reported erroneous information. The problem is that they fail to just as prominently post how they got it wrong. The original 'fake news' is out there and those that see that and do not see the amendments will have a completely erroneous impression of what happened or is happening.
 
To ABC's credit they did suspend Brian Ross for four weeks after his incompetence in reporting a false story on Flynn that crashed the market.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News on Saturday suspended investigative reporter Brian Ross for four weeks without pay for his erroneous report on Michael Flynn, which it called a “serious error.”​
https://www.boston.com/news/media/2017/12/02/abc-news-suspends-brian-ross-for-erroneous-flynn-report

Maybe if such discipline was enforced across the board in all the media, we would get more careful and honest reporting.
 
AlbqOwl said:
I hope it is possible at DP to have a serious, civil discussion re the serious business of media coverage that is:

1. Biased to the point of dishonesty
2. Erroneous to the point of incompetence
3. Fake news in that it is information created or repeated or represented in a way that is deliberately false.

Based on posts and people recruited to be talking heads on television, it seems obvious some think this syndrome doesn't exist at all or it is purely an invention of Fox News. Others are diligently pointing out that it does exist and is mean, cruel, hateful, and detrimental to us as a society whether in the mainstream media, on the internet, or on social media.

So what do you think? This is the thread to express your opinions and impressions and also to post examples of fake/erroneous/misrepresented news that you run across and/or examples of news labeled 'fake' that turned out to be true.
Click to expand...

Clinton deregulated the FCC. Back in the 1980s there were 50 some odd companies on the american media landscape and the function of governmental watchdog was still yet taken seriously. Now a half dozen multinational corporations own the entire thing and preside over ~90% of what americans see, hear, read, watch … and ultimately come to perceive as reality. Much of this comes from the laziness of the public themselves, but the public is also under increasing economic duress and pressure making being informed more difficult requiring due diligence and triangulation; all of which takes time and effort. The rerigging of the internet will now feed into this and the public is already accustomed to accepting bogus wars of aggression and profit as legit and standard economic policy.

The american media machine is the voice of the corporate state.
 
AlbqOwl said:
I'll start with this piece from the Daily Caller listing seven times this year that CNN has botched or put out fake/erroneous news:

LIST: CNN's Fake News Stories In 2017 | The Daily Caller

These include:
--Comey testimony
--Scaramucci smear
--Fake news about fake news
--Feeding fish in Japan
--The President's knowledge of Japanese cars
--Funding of the Dossier
--Don Jr. and Wikilieaks

And that's just CNN. Let's see other examples or examples of news declared fake that was actually true.
Click to expand...

Be careful. Your bias is showing too.
 
AlbqOwl said:
I hope it is possible at DP to have a serious, civil discussion re the serious business of media coverage that is:

1. Biased to the point of dishonesty
2. Erroneous to the point of incompetence
3. Fake news in that it is information created or repeated or represented in a way that is deliberately false.

Based on posts and people recruited to be talking heads on television, it seems obvious some think this syndrome doesn't exist at all or it is purely an invention of Fox News. Others are diligently pointing out that it does exist and is mean, cruel, hateful, and detrimental to us as a society whether in the mainstream media, on the internet, or on social media.

So what do you think? This is the thread to express your opinions and impressions and also to post examples of fake/erroneous/misrepresented news that you run across and/or examples of news labeled 'fake' that turned out to be true.
Click to expand...

Nothing is meaner, more crueler, more hateful and detrimental to society than when the right lied about Obama's birthplace. None of these stories are worse than that.
 
Fenton Lum said:
Clinton deregulated the FCC. Back in the 1980s there were 50 some odd companies on the american media landscape and the function of governmental watchdog was still yet taken seriously. Now a half dozen multinational corporations own the entire thing and preside over ~90% of what americans see, hear, read, watch … and ultimately come to perceive as reality. Much of this comes from the laziness of the public themselves, but the public is also under increasing economic duress and pressure making being informed more difficult requiring due diligence and triangulation; all of which takes time and effort. The rerigging of the internet will now feed into this and the public is already accustomed to accepting bogus wars of aggression and profit as legit and standard economic policy.

The american media machine is the voice of the corporate state.
Click to expand...

So is fake news, erroneous reporting a problem or not?
 
NeverTrumpGOP said:
Be careful. Your bias is showing too.
Click to expand...

The OP or the piece on CNN is not at all biased. If you can show that the linked piece is wrong though, please go for it.

And provide your own examples.
 
NeverTrumpGOP said:
Nothing is meaner, more crueler, more hateful and detrimental to society than when the right lied about Obama's birthplace. None of these stories are worse than that.
Click to expand...

So you would agree that fake news, false accusations, erroneous reporting is a serious problem? Is that how you marked the poll?
 
AlbqOwl said:
I hope it is possible at DP to have a serious, civil discussion re the serious business of media coverage that is:

1. Biased to the point of dishonesty
2. Erroneous to the point of incompetence
3. Fake news in that it is information created or repeated or represented in a way that is deliberately false.

Based on posts and people recruited to be talking heads on television, it seems obvious some think this syndrome doesn't exist at all or it is purely an invention of Fox News. Others are diligently pointing out that it does exist and is mean, cruel, hateful, and detrimental to us as a society whether in the mainstream media, on the internet, or on social media.

So what do you think? This is the thread to express your opinions and impressions and also to post examples of fake/erroneous/misrepresented news that you run across and/or examples of news labeled 'fake' that turned out to be true.
Click to expand...

"Fake news" is mostly a phenomenon of the right. Nothing more fake than Fox, Breitbart, Daily Caller, Town Hall ...
 
AlbqOwl said:
I hope it is possible at DP to have a serious, civil discussion re the serious business of media coverage that is:

1. Biased to the point of dishonesty
2. Erroneous to the point of incompetence
3. Fake news in that it is information created or repeated or represented in a way that is deliberately false.

Based on posts and people recruited to be talking heads on television, it seems obvious some think this syndrome doesn't exist at all or it is purely an invention of Fox News. Others are diligently pointing out that it does exist and is mean, cruel, hateful, and detrimental to us as a society whether in the mainstream media, on the internet, or on social media.

So what do you think? This is the thread to express your opinions and impressions and also to post examples of fake/erroneous/misrepresented news that you run across and/or examples of news labeled 'fake' that turned out to be true.
Click to expand...

We know that Russians invaded Facebook & Twitter with thousands of adds designed to sway public opinion toward Trump. They weren't obvious--they didn't have a Russian label on them--and came with titles that were not easy to spot. Google & Youtube were also innundated by Russians.
Facebook: Russian ads reached 10 million people - Oct. 2, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...l-and-other-platforms/?utm_term=.f5840b229ebf

th


But what is really bothersome to me right now, (because I used to be a FOX NEWS watcher is this.) I have never seen such distortion and untruths coming out of any network to try and protect the truth from getting out. Sean Hannity and several others on this network might as well label themselves with the credibility of a Tabloid magazine. FOX NEWS has become nothing more than conspiracy theory central.

So here is FOX NEWS where the importance of the placement of cheese on a cheeseburger was more important than 3 Federal Grand Jury indictments and 1 guilty plea.



So YES fake news--or even distorted news is extremely serious to the well being of our Democracy.
 
Last edited:
AlbqOwl said:
So you would agree that fake news, false accusations, erroneous reporting is a serious problem? Is that how you marked the poll?
Click to expand...

For the right who do it and use it yes. To everyone else, it's just the news.
 
GhostlyJoe said:
"Fake news" is mostly a phenomenon of the right. Nothing more fake than Fox, Breitbart, Daily Caller, Town Hall ...
Click to expand...

NeverTrumpGOP said:
Be careful. Your bias is showing too.
Click to expand...
. . . .

:mrgreen:

This after the OP posted the las batch of erroneous news reports with a left bias. :roll:

Erroneous news is a problem because its one of the sources with which the electorate is supposed to be making their voting decisions with.

Would probably be best if the news were factual, non-biased, not opinion, and accurate far more often than it is not. of course, this doesn't describe the 'news' (political propaganda) media landscape we have at present.
 
Last edited:
GhostlyJoe said:
"Fake news" is mostly a phenomenon of the right. Nothing more fake than Fox, Breitbart, Daily Caller, Town Hall ...
Click to expand...

Can you give me a specific example or two of those publications putting out fake news or inaccurate information?
 
Oreo said:
We know that Russians invaded Facebook & Twitter with thousands of adds designed to sway public opinion toward Trump. They weren't obvious--they didn't have a Russian label on them--and came with titles that were not easy to spot. Google & Youtube were also innundated by Russians.
Facebook: Russian ads reached 10 million people - Oct. 2, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...l-and-other-platforms/?utm_term=.f5840b229ebf

th


But what is really bothersome to me right now, (because I used to be a FOX NEWS watcher is this.) I have never seen such distortion and untruths coming out of any network to try and protect the truth from getting out. Sean Hannity and several others on this network might as well label themselves with the credibility of a Tabloid magazine. FOX NEWS has become nothing more than conspiracy theory central.

So here is FOX NEWS where the importance of the placement of cheese on a cheeseburger was more important than 3 Federal Grand Jury indictments and 1 guilty plea.



So YES fake news--or even distorted news is extremely serious to the well being of our Democracy.
Click to expand...


Maybe you have a serious example of fake news or inaccurate reporting? Surely one lighthearted moment in a newscast does not constitute objectionable reporting. Fox is after all a 24/7 news station and they do break from the serious stuff now and then as ALL such news organizations do.
 
NeverTrumpGOP said:
For the right who do it and use it yes. To everyone else, it's just the news.
Click to expand...

So if the right gets it wrong it is 'fake news'? But it is okay if anybody else does it and somebody believes it? Is that what you are arguing here? Please clarify because that is what I got from your post at first blush. And I fully realize I could be wrong re your intent so want to understand you correctly.
 
Indiscretion on the part of any major news organization cannot be acceptable, they can and they must hold themselves to the very highest standards of journalistic integrity and have a fact based bedrock on which their organization is built.

Anything less does a disservice to the public, to the democracy in which they are supposed to serve and inform and the many instances we have witnessed from across the American media are simply not acceptable.

Having said that... Trump supporters have no right, no right whatsoever, to jump on some of these organizations the way they have, not because the news organizations don't deserve it, but because it's very odd that they support someone with not only absolutely no regard for the truth, but no regard for reality as we know it, not only does Trump lie at the speed of light, but he also has a tendency to make things up and buy into massive conspiracy theories.

A Trump supporter is also far more likely to turn to the alternative media for news that routinely and willfully warps reality and truth from what cannot even be described as a bias point of view, but an almost fictional one.

And the way in which the Extremist Far Right bogus videos were re-tweeted by Trump were excused by his supporters, just as an example, shows that these people have absolutely no basis in which to proclaim their disdain for major news organizations.

They are throwing stones not from a glass house, but a scorched, open field.
 
AlbqOwl said:
So if the right gets it wrong it is 'fake news'? But it is okay if anybody else does it and somebody believes it? Is that what you are arguing here? Please clarify because that is what I got from your post at first blush. And I fully realize I could be wrong re your intent so want to understand you correctly.
Click to expand...

The attacks the the right uses against the MSM are misleading and blown way out of proportion. They should look at themselves first before acting all high and mighty. I'll admit I don't like how the left has handled sexual assault cases in the past, but the right doesn't do it any better!
 
GhostlyJoe said:
Fox
Breitbart
Daily Caller
Town Hall -- who gives a crap? Just an example of a run-of-the-mill right-wing propaganda site
Click to expand...

Possible erroneous reporting for sure, but I would like a link to those publications and their reporting. While they certainly do raise some questions and I am not saying I think they are wrong, none of the links you have posted are conclusive that any of them were intentionally engaging in fake news. I am always leery of biased reporting about what somebody reported which is in part the topic of this thread. Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they don't.
 
NeverTrumpGOP said:
The attacks the the right uses against the MSM are misleading and blown way out of proportion. They should look at themselves first before acting all high and mighty. I'll admit I don't like how the left has handled sexual assault cases in the past, but the right doesn't do it any better!
Click to expand...

You could definitely be right about that, but again I ask you for a specific example or examples IN CONTEXT that would support your argument. I am trying to be pretty meticulous in backing up mine.
 
AlbqOwl said:
You could definitely be right about that, but again I ask you for a specific example or examples IN CONTEXT that would support your argument. I am trying to be pretty meticulous in backing up mine.
Click to expand...

Easy you guys are freaking out about the left and how they chose not to talk about sexual assault until right now but yet you support candidates who do the same thing and worse! Republicans are still largely ignoring the issue unless another Democrat goes down.
 
AlbqOwl said:
Maybe you have a serious example of fake news or inaccurate reporting? Surely one lighthearted moment in a newscast does not constitute objectionable reporting. Fox is after all a 24/7 news station and they do break from the serious stuff now and then as ALL such news organizations do.
Click to expand...

Great googily moogily. Your thread is obviously a means to defend against what you know to be true. But there is just no escaping the truth....

A new study shows that viewers who get their news from Fox News are the most misinformed in the country.

World Public Opinion, a project managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, conducted a survey of American voters that shows that Fox News viewers are significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources. What’s more, the study shows that greater exposure to Fox News increases misinformation.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

It's not exactly a revelation that Fox News viewers are spectacularly ill informed about current events compared to people who watch other networks. But according to a recent report, the Fox audience knows less even than folks who don't watch any news at all.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Yet another study has been released proving that watching Fox News is detrimental to your intelligence.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

According to a new study by Farleigh Dickinson University, Fox viewers are the least knowledgeable audience of any outlet, and they know even less about politics and current events than people who watch no news at all.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

There are actual documentaries on news bias and Fox is the favorite subject in each.

The fact that people on the right are so fond of tossing out "fake news" at every turn unless it comes out of Fox should tell you something. The fact that Trump only wants you to learn about the world through his moronic Tweets should tell you something. Trump needs the faithful to believe in the idea of "fake news" because it allows him to de-legitimize whatever he wants to at a whim, while applauding aspects of the media he likes. Looking for the occasional errors and goofs in reporting from other outlets to legitimize the fantasy of "fake news" does not and will never excuse the rampant, very obvious, and thorough propaganda machine that FOX News passes off as journalism.

Conduct your own study. The next time you receive a report from a Fox anchor, notice the obvious body language and whimsical dismissals that help you achieve the opinion of their choice. Notice the obnoxious red, white, and blue colors that invoke your sense of patriotism. Notice the ridiculously busy ticker tape parade that goes on all around the screen to invoke a sense of "business." And why is almost everything a dramatic "breaking news" event?
 
NeverTrumpGOP said:
The attacks the the right uses against the MSM are misleading and blown way out of proportion. They should look at themselves first before acting all high and mighty. I'll admit I don't like how the left has handled sexual assault cases in the past, but the right doesn't do it any better!
Click to expand...

You have already stated that several times. I get what your opinion of it is without any question. All I am asking for is that you give us one or two actual examples from the sources themselves presented IN CONTEXT to back up your opinion. Otherwise, it is pretty safe to believe that it is only your opinion based on personal bias/prejudices.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom