by Dottie Britt
We currently live in a day of great technology which is a double-edged sword. We are able to have information at our fingertips 24/7. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean it’s always accurate information.
We are also in one of the most divisive times we have ever lived in. The two points have made for some really interesting conversations.
One of those is the idea of the “evil” “liberal” “fake” etc… media. This is a relatively new phenomenon and mostly promoted by our current President.
Who chose to go into the office of President and anytime a member of the Press said anything against him he would scream “Fake News”.
It’s not a new tactic, dictatorships have used it for decades. If you discredit everyone against you then the people have no option but to believe you. And I know, there are people who will say, “The media has gone after Trump” to which I reply “He gives them ammunition daily by enjoying the sound of his own voice and seeing his own words”
No other President in history has tweeted as he does nor held press conferences the way he does which is going to automatically open him up. It’s sometimes like watching Good Fellas I keep joking we’ll find the bodies of journalists that dare to ask a hard question, floating in the river one day.
The media is protected by the Constitution for a reason. They should be asking hard questions whether it makes him, you, or anyone uncomfortable or not. It’s their job! The founding fathers believed, and rightly so, that the Press should be able to keep the government honest.
They are there to protect us by giving and getting information that we wouldn’t otherwise ever know. And it’s a pretty thankless job. They don’t get paid a fortune, they take a lot of heat but they love their job. I grew up in the media, I know how it works.
And real journalists care about the facts, they care about their job. Just because a journalist says something you disagree with doesn’t make it “fake news” a term I’ve come to despise. It means they are doing their job and probably very well. Of course, in this day and age of online bullying and political divisiveness facts are well…twisted and not appreciated unless one agrees with them.
This new “fake news” belief has also corresponded with an increase in the belief that almost everything is some sort of conspiracy. To that, I remind you, in order for any good conspiracy to work as few people as possible have to be involved. It limits the possibility of anyone talking. Because we are human, we like to share. But due to the internet (you know it’s all true if you find it there ha! ) theories are viral.
Which brings me to my final thoughts, we are all locked down right now in what feels like the biggest lab rat, science experiment ever. We are all on the internet more, and we are all getting cagey.
Keep that in mind as you are absorbing “information”.
I see more wrong information passed on usually in the form of a meme. Just don’t unless you have actually fact-checked it. Don’t be part of the problem…choose to be part of the solution.
Everyone stay safe…hopefully, this will all be over soon.
Interesting you chose to write about the media… where on earth did you get that idea? Twitter only came out during the Obama administration so President Trump is only the second president that would have even had the capability to tweet. President Trump had been on Twitter for years before he even thought about running for president. He MUST use Twitter to get around the media that does nothing but negative stories on him! The stats on this or unbelievable! I believe the stat is 97% of the MAIN STREEM MEDIA (fake news) stories on President Trump or negative! Imagine that! It was about the exact opposite for President Obama. Believe me, President Obama gave the media plenty of “ammunition daily”! Bowing to other leaders, BenGhazi, weaponizing the IRS against Christians and the tea party, Loretta Lynch and the famous tarmac meeting with Hillary Clinton… The list is endless! Michelle Obama was splattered all over every magazine and TV shows and then we have the beautiful, elegant Model that hardly gets ANY press at all! Coincidence? I think not! Americans are VERY smart. Even us DEPLORABLES. They know how biased the media is. They know that many in the main stream media are married or kin to high ranking Democrats in Washington. You were right about ONE thing, thank God for the Internet! Before this technology Americans had to rely on the media were in the dark about the swamp! No more and NEVER again!🇺🇸WWG1WGA
Fact check #1 – Twitter came out during the Bush administration, I was a junior in college at the time.
Fact check #2 – I’m going to argue that 97% of media published on Trump is not negative, would love to see a cited source for that statement.
Fact check #3 – The NBC and Fox News reporters in D.C. make plenty of money. They aren’t working for $24,000 a year like someone in a town with only 200,000 people. The President and his council should most certainly face tough questions, but let’s not “overly feel” for the reporters inside the White House making six figures to push their employers’ agenda in an open forum. Nobody needs to feel sorry for that. During this outbreak, you can applaud journalists in Michigan who have FOIA’d their governor for the facts on how she handled preparations for Covid-19, specifically as it pertains to Detroit. At last glance, her office denied or “couldn’t provide her orders” to the media because they were soooooo, soooooooo busy!
Actual fact #1 – I once worked in a place (a media outlet) that ruled it acceptable for employees to shout out expletives such as “F*** Trump” and not be reprimanded for it. Back in the day, only about 250 years ago, if you were caught doing that you were considered treasonous, a public threat. (More so for libel than slander) Every presidential term, every decade, the rules/laws get looser, and looser, and looser. Now you can go online and purchase a plethora of t-shirts degrading our nation’s leader. (Not just making fun of him, but borderline threatening him and his supporters)
I’m sure same such shirts were available when Obama was in office, and perhaps many decades back, but it is still not right.
Thanks for your comments