Social Panic – Page 54 – Opinion: Practicing Factfulness on Propaganda, social media, censorship, media and privacy

If its on social media, it must be true …

June 28, 2018 Edward MS

Appeared on Facebook. It’s a misquote, taken out of context, says Snopes. (June 28th – the original post has been replaced and rewritten with the following) Violence broke out at a protest over removal of Confederate related statutes at a protest in Charlottesville, VA. Trump said: “I think there is blame on both sides,” the president said in a combative exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan. “You had a group on one side that was bad. You had…

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The joy of living in a fact-free world of official government propaganda #Cellphone #Crashes #Propaganda

June 27, 2018 Edward MS

WCSO is the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. They put out this social media poster on Twitter, regarding cell phone usage / distracted driving and fatalities. They cite ODOT Crash Analysis & Reporting, 2015. But check the details. Per the ODOT report just 1 of the 73 pedestrian fatalities was linked to cell phone usage (see page 18, fatal pedestrian accident data). 0.7% of all accidents and 0.5% of accidents having a fatality were linked to cell phone usage. Most people…

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News: Being overly dramatic

June 26, 2018 Edward MS

The Intercept published an article about likely locations of NSA voice and data intercept equipment located in AT&T “central office” network switching locations. They’ve promoted the article on Twitter with this poster: The statement they’ve written is basically true but is written using numerous emotional click bait words to exaggerate. Each of those attributes are features that make perfect sense and have nothing to do with their likely co-location of NSA surveillance gear. The intent in the above wording is…

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News: The difference between percent and percentile

June 25, 2018 Edward MS

This is a frequent error in news reports: In 2015, Frappuccinos were 14 percent of Starbucks revenue: Year-to-date, however, the drink’s sales are down 3 percent — and now account for only 11 percent of the company’s revenue. Source: Starbucks has a ‘void in innovation’ and healthy beverages won’t turn the tide 3 percent of 14 percent is 0.4 percent, not 3 percent. What should have been written is “sales are down 3 percentile points“. As dictionary.com says Never leave…

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Political misinformation is harder to correct than health misinformation – especially among the educated

June 24, 2018 Edward MS

We have covered this phenomena before. The first information people receive, even if subsequently proven to be incorrect, is what stays in people’s minds. This is one of the reasons that propaganda based on lies is often successful. It is very hard to refute erroneous propaganda statements. New research indicates that corrections have a moderate influence on belief in misinformation. ….“The alarming growth of misinformation and the limited repercussions for non-institutional actors for knowingly or unknowingly misleading the public turned…

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News: They don’t care about accuracy

June 24, 2018 Edward MS

Clarke, club president of CARE, said his interest is transmitting using LP or “low power” apparatus. John Laybourne, vice president of the Rogue Valley Amateur Radio Club, used a high-power 10,000 watt setup needing a gas-powered generator for the off-the-grid event. Source: In era of Wi-Fi and LTE, ham radio enthusiasts don’t mind a challenge | The Columbian Depending on license class, band and geographic location, the limits are 5 watts, 50 watts, 200 watts or 1,500 watts peak-envelope-power, not…

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News: How poor reporting becomes propaganda

June 24, 2018 Edward MS

Reporters and statistics rarely work well together: In 2018, the average premium on the exchange was $5,798.83 and for 2019, companies are proposing to sell products with an average premium of $6,274.08. Source: 2019 insurance on the Obamacare exchange in Ohio will increase | cleveland.comAn average provides useful information about a random distribution – ACA premiums are not a random distribution. ACA premiums are a non-linear distribution. When prices are across a non-linear curve, the average tells us little about…

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News: Click bait versus actual news headline

June 24, 2018 Edward MS

I’m so old, I was taught that a news headline encapsulated a brief summary of the news article. Today, the purpose of a headline is to act as “click bait”. This screen capture from Google News illustrates the concept – the one at the bottom is the “old school” approach. The past week has seen a flood of “news” reports about immigration issues-some were mostly correct yet some, may be many, were poorly researched, left out context, and were intended…

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News: One of these things does not go with the other

June 23, 2018 Edward MS

One thing: The Centers for Disease Control is reporting an outbreak of norovirus on a Holland America cruise ship in Alaska. Some 73 people reported falling ill on the Zaandam which is carrying more than 2,000 passengers and crew. Source: Holland America cruise in Alaska hit by norovirus And the other thing – CDC Official Statement: The CDC Vessel Sanitation Program is monitoring the outbreak and the ship’s response procedures. Specimens have been collected and tested onboard using a norovirus…

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Fictional News: Average renter can’t afford their apartment

June 14, 2018 Edward MS

I removed most of this original post as I discovered confusing irregularities in the reporting that made it impossible to figure out what they were saying. Instead, I’ll leave just the original part here. The Oregonian newspaper: KGW8 TV: If the average renter cannot afford to rent even a one-bedroom apartment, then how are they living in a rental unit? This logical conflict was invented by the headline writers as the actual underlying report says something different. But the headline…

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