Snopes beclowns itself again, “fact checks” a satire news site again
Snopes falls for it again and fact checks a satirical web site that prominently says it is “Fake news you can trust”. Seriously Snopes?
Everything, everywhere is now a “crisis”
While researching overuse of the “crisis” label (literally everything is now a crisis), I ran across a Google News linked web site whose own description largely labels itself as a propaganda mill. Yet this is what passes for “news”?
“Political motives” have become “the major driving force behind most science communication”
Study finds that “science communications” has routinely devolved into propaganda messaging intended to persuade targets to adopt someone’s agenda.
Nice explanation of how propaganda messaging works
“A good cause makes a lie easier to buy”. This is why many propaganda campaigns use themes such as “for the children” – even though their claims are exaggerated or not true. The target buys the propaganda message since its for a good cause.
How “anchoring” influences your interpretation of propaganda messaging
A combination of anchoring, false assertion and a logical fallacy turn a newspaper opinion column into powerful propaganda messaging.
Rent A Crowd “Crowds on Demand” – is back in the news
We wrote about rental protest crowds back in 2017. They are now back in the news.
“Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Loederman sold his medal for $765,000 to pay medical bills”
A Nobel prize recipient dies. Vox misspells his name and makes a false claim about his medical bills. This 21st century reporting stuff isn’t turning out so well…
Staged photos used to illustrate a “news” story
The way to respond to accusations of fictional news reporting is to double down on accuracy, objectivity and remaining calm. Unfortunately, the news industry continues to harm itself through self destructive behavior typical of middle school drama. Here, an online magazine staged their photos to accompany an interview, down to providing the clothing worn by the subject being interviewed.
Creative news writing – “First solo flight” claim is false
Numerous “news” outlets botch a new story saying a 17-year student pilot made a successful emergency landing on her “first solo flight”. In reality, her first solo flight was a year ago. However, this erroneous report was repeated by numerous news stories, nation wide. When they cannot get even the simplest of facts correct, should we trust anything in the news?
How does a college student “intern” become a “senior adviser”?
How the New York Times turned a college student intern into a “federal analyst”, “senior adviser” and host of other titles, in a single front page news story. Title inflation makes a news report more persuasive through use of an “appeal to authority”. Citing an anonymous college student intern does not sound as good as citing an anonymous “senior adviser”. Unfortunately, the news media frequently uses both title inflation and anonymous sources to persuade you to adopt their agenda.