Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/964044
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM APRIL 11-17, 2018 UCW 5 What if it's all fake news? by MARGARET DICKSON OPINION MARGARET DICKSON, Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Once upon a time, we Americans trusted our government. We dutifully listened to President Franklin Roosevelt's fireside chats and took his admonitions about World War II sacrifices to heart. We gener- ally trusted President Eisenhower as well, but then along came Vietnam, and our trust in our government faltered. Watergate delivered the coup de grace, but as our trust in government waned, our trust in media strengthened. It was media, and specifically Walter Cronkite of CBS who called out American involvement in Vietnam and e Washington Post that exposed the presidential wrongdoing and ended Richard Nixon's presidency. Fast forward nearly 50 years, and it seems that no one trusts anyone, or if we do, we trust only people, institutions and media of all stripes whose views and posi- tions align with our own. Many of us watch, listen to and read only the views of our like-minded fellow travelers. Everyone and everything else is "fake." In the past, we had local newspapers and broadcasting outlets, national magazines and three major television networks along with PBS. ose organizations strove for objectivity, even though some would say they did not always achieve it. e idea was presenting only the news, not the outlets' own take on that news. Today, anyone – you, me and my dog Lily – can have our own voice online for only the time it takes to put our thoughts together. We can and do say most anything we want without the expense of a printing press and paper, a broadcasting license and transmitter, or a cable network. e quandary, of course, is with so many dif- ferent and competing voices out there, how do we know which ones are accurate, which ones are wrong and which ones are just plain nutty? All of us have limited time to spend on these various voices. It makes sense that we should choose not only wisely, but seeking a diversity of opinion, not just the ones that agree with our own. Several years ago, a bright young stu- dent at Methodist University and I were pleasantly exchanging political views, and I asked him how he got most of his news. I was not surprised when he said, "Fox News," which I also watch, generally at the gym. I suggested several other news outlets he might want to explore both on television and in print, asking how he could adhere to certain political views and positions with- out understanding why people who hold other views and positions have chosen theirs. is is America, and we are all en- titled to our opinions, but it does not mean that other opinions are therefore fake. Nevertheless, there is actual fake news. Remember the Hillary Clinton child sex ring run from a Washington pizza parlor and the stories about Melania Trump's body double? ose stories are real fake news as are thousands, perhaps millions, of others. ProPublica, the investigative journalism website, suggests we approach all news, even the news that appeals to us politically or emotionally, with a good deal of skepticism. Beyond that, look for the source. Established publications and electronic news outlets make mistakes, but they are generally reliable, at least on the facts. Websites you have never heard of are probably marginal for good reason. ey often attempt to mirror well-known sites but are just a bit off. Finally, as CNN has been saying for months, calling an apple a banana repeatedly does not make it one. No matter how many times you say some- thing, it does not make it true. Meanwhile, the young man who was heading to a professional school after Methodist later emailed to say he had learned a few new ideas. We all have room to do that – and should. one year special $ 15 for UP & CoMING WEEKLY rEadErs oNLY you save 89% off Tv GuIDe MaGaZINe Get A GreAt DeAL from tV GuiDe mAGAzine start Your subscription online, By Mail or Call online: tvguidemagazine.com/newsoffer mail: complete order form below call: 1-800-365-1940 WHeN CaLLING use PRoMo: K6fNsWPZZ Every issue delivers inside scoop on your favorite shows Breaking news keeps you in the know Highlights help guide you to what's worth watching Your favorite stars take you behind the scenes 28 Pages of easy-to-use primetime listings GrEaT rEasoNs To sTarT YoUr sUBsCrIPTIoN is is America, and we are all entitled to our opinions, but it does not mean that other opinions are therefore fake. Be smart and do your re- search when it comes to the news.