Media target for politicians
May 25, 2017
I find it extremely ironic that the people who scream and flap their tiny hands and call any news they don’t agree with “fake news”, are the very same people who cite “sources” that a simple fact check tears apart. These people tend to justify their disdain for critical coverage by respected news outlets by saying they have have “alternative facts” or that they have different opinions about the truth.
There is no such thing. Facts are either true, or they are not facts. Facts are not subjective, they are not opinions. Facts are based on evidence that can be objectively measured. The phrase “alternative facts” was first presented when the pictures of Trump’s inauguration came out and were compared to the pictures from Obama’s. Everything was the same in the two pictures, except for the number of people in them. The simple fact is, there were less people at Trump’s inauguration than there was years before.
While false news has existed long before, this is the first time that the lies were so blatantly false and said by someone with so much power.
The point of the news is to provide evidence and facts to the people who might not already be aware of them not just say things to spark conflict. News channels are supposed to inform people not function as human clickbait.
You can’t just say things when you are in a position of power and expect it to have no impact. People in media have power in this day in age because of how connected everything is. Calling everything you don’t agree with fake only harms. We have to be aware of the facts and opinions on every matter, even if we don’t agree with them.
