It Was Just a Rumor on Facebook. Then a Militia Showed Up. Residents of Oakdale, CA have abandoned traditional media outlets for a mishmash of online sources. Now they’re often unsure what to trust
It Was Just a Rumor on Facebook. Then a Militia Showed Up.
That's the problem these days. There's just no trust, and I blame the news for it. We've all read an article on something we know about, and has that article be so ass-backwards it's baffling. And then you start thinking to yourself, if they got that article so terribly wrong, what else are they getting wrong?
Once upon a time you had to present both sides in order to keep your operating license. There's no reason we couldn't do a similar thing today that covered OTA broadcast, cable, and social media companies, except for the fact that rich people don't want the public to be informed. If it was up to me, advertising during news or opinion pieces would be prohibited entirely. News should cost companies money, not generate it.
Shouldn’t there be a bigger focus on getting misinformation out of the media rather than giving all opposing viewpoints equal airtime? IMO, the reason why a good chunk of the US believes in wacky fringe theories and has no faith in traditional scientific institutions is that our media tends to present, for example, RFK and Anthony Fauci as equivalent authorities on vaccines.
Making or allowing demonstrably false statements to be made on air should be punishable (*outside of something like obvious fiction or satire) as a matter of public policy.
There's no both sides.
Just facts, research, and interviews with people directly involved and field experts.
The 'both sides' nonsense is one of the reasons climate change was so widely doubted. Every yahoo with an opinion got his 5 seconds of fame spouting nonsense on the news.
It requires a bit of critical thinking and knowing your sources. Eg telling when you're looking at a puff piece written to gain access vs a serious investigation.
What definitely can't work is just trusting what you see on social media.
