A Guide to getting Fake News out of your life for good
A
large number of people are having a hard time discerning real news from fake
news. I'm happy to tell you that, if you
follow the general guidelines I've outlined below, it is actually easier to get Fake News (and intentional misinformation and disinformation) out of your life than
you thought.
The 4 Quickest
Steps to Getting Factual (Real) News:
1)
Stop getting your news from TV and radio personalities and from Internet memes
2)
Identify credible sources
3)
Learn how spot the difference between news and opinion
4)
Make fact-checkers your friend
1. Stop
Getting Your News From TV (and Radio) personalities and from Internet Memes
TV News can be a slippery
slope. Just because someone says their
news is Real or Fair or Balanced, doesn't make it true. If you must get your news from TV, the best
places to find factual, non-biased news is from the major network
newscasts. Those would include:
DINNER HOUR Broadcasts:
--
The PBS NewsHour -- online here: pbs.org/newshour/
--
ABC World News Tonight -- online here: abcnews.go.com/WN
--
CBS Evening News -- online here: cbsnews.com/evening-news/
--
NBC Nightly News -- online here: nbcnews.com/nightly-news
NEWS SHOWS TO AVOID:
1)
Talking heads
2)
Panel discussions, generally with a moderator or host
3)
Those relying upon opinions, sensationalism, demonization, ranting or judgments
of others
THE BEST SOURCE FOR CURRENT NEWS
(at any
time):
Google News -- news.google.com
Google News is an aggregator of sources
and they present the news by topic with numerous media sources provided for
each story or subject. That way users
can choose which source to read or can read multiple sources. Plus it's easy to navigate. This is my go-to source to obtain accurate
news.
2. Identify
Credible Sources
The Internet has made it easier to find both disreputable sources of news, and reputable ones. In your quest for reliable news sources, the best place to start is with organizations that rate news sources on the basis of their political bias and reliability based upon concrete, identifiable methodologies. Those would include:
-- Ad Fontes Media's Media Bias Chart* -- Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart
-- All Sides -- All Sides media-bias-ratings
-- Media Bias Fact Check - A reliable source, but now omitted here because of a very confusing web site loaded with not-so-clearly marked 3rd party ad links to questionable web sites.
*Ad
Fontes also offers a very helpful link with which you can look up the neutrality
and reliability of almost ANY source
Ad Fontes rankings-by-individual-news-source
Based on Ad Fontes Media and on All Sides, the following news sources are considered to be the most fair, reliable and unbiased in their presentation of the news (not including opinion articles):
--
Reuters
--
USA Today
--
BBC News
--
Axios
--
PBS
--
The Christian Science Monitor
--
ABC News
--
CBS News
--
NBC News
--
Forbes
--
Bloomberg
--
The Hill
Once you know which sources are reliable, you can switch back and forth between them (i.e.-- like on Google News) in order to get different, factual angles of the same story. One thing to note: reputable news sources will correct any reporting errors once they become known. Disreputable sources don't.
3. Learn how
spot the difference between news and opinion
This
one is easy -- providing you are starting with reputable new sources. Just be aware that almost every news source
offers a combination of news and editorial/opinion/analysis. Credible print/Internet sources will clearly
identify the nature of opinion articles, generally at the top with designations
such as "Op-Ed"; "Opinion", "Editorial" or
"Analysis". Expect these to
have an opinionated viewpoint of the subjects they are discussing.
4. Make
fact-checkers your friend
Most major media outlets nowadays offer some degree of fact-checking. If the fact-checking source is reputable, their fact-checking will be too. But there are also several other fact checking organizations that can be utilized. Once you know which are trustworthy, you can utilize your search engine to see which of the fact checkers have addressed your inquiry.
To fact check a
questionable claim, simply put the words "Fact check" followed by the
subject and claim you want to check. If
you don't get the results you are looking for, try rewording the claim or using
a specific quote from the article or meme you are trying to check. An example of this might be to search "Fact Check Does Facebook ban the posting of the Lord's Prayer?"
Here are some reliable third-party fact-checkers:
-- Politifact
-- Snopes
--
The Washington Post Fact Checker
General Tips for Avoiding Fake News
-- Identify reliable sources and seek them out
-- Learn to recognize the difference between news and opinion
-- Ask WHY? Does this make sense?
-- Verify doubtful/questionable claims using fact checkers
-- Avoid believing social media memes, talking heads, and cable news or radio personalities (on Fox, OAN, CNN, MSNBC, Limbaugh, InfoWars, etc.)
-- Read beyond the headline. Headlines are often written to grab your attention with sensationalized claims
-- Trust your 'bullshit' detector. If it sounds suspicious, look it up.
-- If it makes a judgment or asks you to, it's not news
-- Read the news, rather than watch it. It's harder to get away with lies and deceptions in print.
-- Use your search engine
Not all local media is trustworthy
Sadly, there has been a recent effort to deceptively portray corporately-sourced, partisan political opinions as coming from trusted local news anchors. Ironically, the most abhorrent example of this came from Sinclair Broadcast Group and took the form of an editorial warning to viewers about "Fake News". This warning was broadcast word-for-word on dozens of Sinclair-owned TV stations criticizing what they considered to be "Fake News" sources and describing them as "extremely dangerous to our democracy". A number of journalists at those stations resigned rather than participate in the deliberate deception. You can view a very creepy and disturbing video of the result here:
Dozens of local Sinclair TV anchors reading the same script
Sinclair currently owns 193 TV stations in 100 American markets, owning multiple competing stations in some markets. To see if your local station is one of them, you can view the database here:
List of local TV stations owned or operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Learn
to Identify Logical Fallacies
A
Logical Fallacy is an attempt to use logical-sounding arguments to support
illogical or intentionally erroneous conclusions.
Expressed another way, the underlying intent of a logical fallacy is to present
falsehoods in a way that project the appearance of being factual.
Logical fallacies abound, especially on social media, talk radio and talk/opinion TV. Here is a helpful link to a slide show which can help you: 1) identify them; 2) better understand what local fallacies look like; 3) and explain how users of logical fallacies try to manipulate you:
12 Common Logical Fallacies and How to Debunk Them
Truth matters.
Hopefully this post has made it easier
for you to seek it out.
