CBS 60 Minutes: Fake News
Link for article: CBS 60 Minutes
CBS 60 Minutes did an interesting segment on fake news this past weekend. Did you get a chance to see it? If not, I highly recommend it.
Every fake news story discussed on this show was presented to me by one of my readers asking me if the story was true or not. I was astounded I had seen them all through you, my readers. And I did not discuss them publicly because I did not find them credible.
I think there are some basic rules I would suggest to avoid fake news. Don’t ever consider Facebook or any other social media platform as a source of news unless you are getting it from a trusted source such as BBC or Reuter’s page on FB (if they even have one). Facebook is not in the business of disseminating news. They are social platform and sell many things in the form of advertising. I disregard all side column articles as paid ads and ignore them, and always have.
When I want news, I go to the main stream media websites directly. They are not fake news sites despite what Trump has told you. I also read multiple sources to verify stories and facts. When you see a headline like “Hillary has Parkinson’s Disease” if you don’t see the news on any other website that is reputable in the news industry, you know it’s likely questionable. The odds are not that you got the story first on some obscure website. Do know that.
I am very picky about sources and I highly recommend you are, too. Plus, when you click on these fake news sites, I think you run a much higher risk to get a virus as well. You really don’t know where you are going when you click on some strange website you’ve never heard of. It could Bulgaria or Romania or China trying to influence you. So think twice before clicking on some tantalizing link.
Very useful video to watch, thanks Eyes.
Good advice. I have also discovered, per your advice in another article, if you can’t find the same story on all of the main stream sites, including international (I check CNN, Reuters, The Guardian, Associated Press), then it’s probably poorly sourced at best.
As usual I disagree here. I believe the NYT broke this particular story with the headline “Michael Flynn Was Paid to Represent Turkey’s Interests During Trump Campaign”. The actual article is more nuanced but the headline is a flat out a lie. NPR got it sort of right with “Michael Flynn Admits Lobbying May Have Benefited Turkish”. Others just say “foreign agent”, but using Google most headlines from that day are along the lines of “Lobbying For Turkey” and “Registered As An Agent For Turkey”. Furthermore the stories are written in such a confusing manner that you have to go right to the FARA document they are reporting on to get an accurate description of what was going on (he registered as an agent for a Dutch company, owned by a Turkish businessman, who in turn was consulting for an Israeli firm trying to sell natural gas to Turkey – the “pro Turkish interests” don’t extend beyond Turkey getting a good deal on Israeli natural gas).
So I have to ask you, How is Cernovich’s headline saying a physician confirmed Hillary has parkinsons fake news but the NYT and many many other MSM sources with headlines saying Flynn was an agent for Turkey not? I know you usually don’t answer my questions, but I really hope you do this one.
I also take issue with the suggestion that someone might get a virus visiting Cernovich’s site. He’s been around for years, and frankly I have no idea why he’s gaining popularity. Whatever you think of him he’s been doing a lot to build his brand for years. The likelihood of getting a virus visiting his site is the same as visiting yours (meaning it would take an outside entity to hack the website server).
The “Pizzagate guy! OMG. You believe his “journalism”? Cernovich is reporting garbage a la Alex Jones.
Theorists claimed an underground network beneath Comet Ping Pong;
however, the restaurant actually has no basement, and the picture used
to support this claim was taken from another facility
“Theorists claimed” – what did Cernovich claim, what did he report? I’ll the question I asked to you – How is Cernovich’s headline saying a physician confirmed Hillary has parkinsons fake news but the NYT and many many other MSM sources with headlines saying Flynn was an agent for Turkey not?
Because Hillary does NOT have Parkinson’s and Flynn has already registered RETROACTIVELY as a paid foreign agent for Turkey. It’s public record now.
Are you shocked to learn Flynn did not register as a foreign agent for Turkey, he registered as a foreign agent for a Dutch company?
http://i.imgur.com/QOMiSq1.png
“Fake News” has plenty of credibility, “Governmental MSM Fake News” is the problem, they have invented this narrative because they are losing their own war of propaganda. & you’re directing them away from it, I’m not feeling the Honesty vibe from yourself by promoting this point.
I came back here in light of the latest news about how Trump’s server was communicating with a server from a Russian owned bank. Data copying is apparently what was happening, and the purpose was to get people’s emails and personal information (they also stole info from Facebook) to then create microtargeted fake news to appeal not to groups of people but actually to INDIVIDUAL people in order to influence them. It’s 21st century propaganda. Find out what a particular person is influenced by and write propaganda especially for them. It’s terrifying.