“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” ~ Mark Twain
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You might not like what I’m about to say. I will keep it short.
Confused about fake news? Alternative facts? Not sure who to trust anymore?
I have some answers.
Think you know who to trust? Do you think you of all people in the world know what sources are reliable?
If so, you’re too comfortable. Sit up straight in your computer chair when I talk to you. Eyes on me.
Nobody is in charge of providing you with correct information except yourself. Don’t worry – there is correct information out there. A piece of correct information is called a “fact.” A fact is a very special thing. The top definition for “Fact” on Google is “a thing that is indisputably the case.”
Indisputable. That means (I’m looking at you, Sean Spicer) we cannot just willy-nilly “disagree” with facts and call it good. No fact is more true than another fact. No fact is “alternative.” No fact is a matter of opinion.
I’m not going to lecture you about facts and fact-checking; I’ll have plenty of that to talk about later. Right now, my mission is to recommend a couple of websites for you to get started on finding the facts in this world. This is the part you might not like.
You need to start with Breitbart News.
Yes, that Breitbart News.
If you want to figure out what is Fake News, you need to go to the source of the media companies that are pumping out the propaganda against the rest of the media, or at least anybody who says anything moderately unflattering about the penis size of the most recent man to become president (no offense to non-douchebags who have small penises, it’s really not about that, you know).
You need to read this site, or at least skim it, as often as you read anything else.
Once you are through with your daily perusal of Breitbart, it’s time for a cleanse. Take it on over to Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!’s War and Peace Report provides our audience with access to people and perspectives rarely heard in the U.S.corporate-sponsored media, including independent and international journalists, ordinary people from around the world who are directly affected by U.S. foreign policy, grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics and independent analysts.
The hosts, Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales, are pretty much the only people in the media these days that I can fully trust to bring me nonbiased, bipartisan reporting on the big issues. If you are rich, please give them money.
By following Breitbart (don’t let “giving them ratings” get in the way of your fact-poking), Democracy Now!, and all your other favorite news sources in-between, you can examine the differences: what is reported, and how and for what purpose it is reported.
Take these Breitbart New headlines (read them!):
- Exclusive — Sarah Palin: Media Hysteria over Trump’s ‘Immigration Ban’ Is Fake News on Steroids
- Times Journo Calls for Assassination of President Trump (talk about Fake News on Steroids)
And these Democracy Now! headlines (also read these!):
- Outright Lies, Constant Tweets & “Alternative Facts”: Inside Trump’s Orwellian War with the Media
- “The Media is the Opposition Party”: Trump Adviser Steve Bannon Tells Press to “Keep Its Mouth Shut”
For further helpful reading, check out these NPR articles about Fake News and Fact-Checking:
- Fresh Air: Fake News Expert On How False Stories Spread And Why People Believe Them
- All Tech Considered: Fake Or Real? How To Self-Check The News And Get The Facts
Has your life been directly, negatively affected by fake news? Here is a good place to start: NPR: What Legal Recourse Do Victims Of Fake News Have?