fake news

Rishika Pardikar 6-25-2020

Chinese and U.S. flags flutter in Shanghai. REUTERS/Aly Song

Communication between scientists in China and scientists in the U.S. has essentially shut down, eliminating opportunities for the U.S. to learn from China’s response to the virus.

Jim Wallis 10-25-2018

Trump's rallies, like his tweets, have been hard to watch, but they clearly reveal a political strategy of fear, based on continual and unapologetic lying, which deliberately evokes racial resentment and hatred. This president’s purpose is indeed to divide us, especially along racial lines. Again, we don’t yet know who is directly responsible for this latest string of violence, but it can no longer be said that there is no relationship between violent presidential rhetoric against opponents and the media, and the violent action against those very people. You can no longer say, “I don’t like his rhetoric and tweets, but I like his policies."

Jim Wallis 4-25-2018

LIVING IN THE United States in the first months of Donald Trump’s presidency often feels surreal, disorienting, and overwhelming, including to some people in positions of considerable responsibility and influence.

There are, of course, many reasons for this, and those who regularly read my columns can no doubt list many of the things that most perturb and anger me about this administration. Many of us are focused on our solidarity and support for those who are most vulnerable in the face of the new political realities. We have lifted up the Matthew 25 Pledge movement aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants threatened with deportation, African Americans and other people of color threatened with racialized policing, and Muslims threatened with xenophobic hatred and discrimination.

But a unifying theme of all of Trump’s outrages and threats is his brazen assault on the very concept of truth and objective, knowable facts. Amid everything that’s going on, consuming and interpreting the news each day is considerably more exhausting than it should be because it has never been more difficult to sort fact from fiction. While this isn’t entirely Trump’s doing, his almost daily falsehoods have the large platform and weight of the presidency to prop them up and pound the American people with persistent and pervasive lying.

This spring, the news cycle was thrown into turmoil for more than a month by Trump’s evidence-free allegations that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had illegally wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign. The president lied, accusing his predecessor of a serious crime with no justification or evidence. Rather than retracting it and apologizing, Trump has tasked his administration and the intelligence community with finding any shred of evidence to retroactively justify his lie.

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead his Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square. Jan. 24, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the "evil" of fake news, saying journalists and social media users should shun and unmask manipulative "snake tactics" that foment division to serve political and economic interests.

Aly Colón 1-02-2018

THE EXPLOSION OF “fake news” creates a conundrum for Christians: How do Christians determine what news is fake and what news is true?

Knowing the difference matters. It affects how Christians perceive the world. It helps them decide the impact news will have in their faith walk. It addresses their freedom to act upon what they believe is true.

Some, in the public at large, already believe they know what’s fake and what’s not. One national poll, for example, found that 46 percent of those contacted believe that major news organizations “fabricate stories” about the president and his administration. Another 37 percent didn’t; 17 didn’t know.

Why would such a high percentage of people think that news is made up when it involves the president? One reason: They don’t believe any news that contradicts their view of the president. And why would the president label certain news fake? He doesn’t agree with it, or believes his view is the only true one.

 

Image via RNS

Amid revelations that extremist groups have exploited social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to influence voters and steer readers toward fake-news, the nation’s premier anti-Semitism watchdog is training its eye on the tech world to combat hate speech online.

The Anti-Defamation League will hold a summit in San Francisco on Nov. 13 featuring Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, along with executives from Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit to discuss ways of fighting the growing menace of cyber hate.

the Web Editors 5-18-2017

Roger Ailes answers questions during a 2006 panel discussion. REUTERS/Fred Prouser

Ailes grew the network to profound influence among right-wing audiences. But many other have found his Fox News growth strategy troubling during a time when use of the term fake news is on the rise. 

Every time you open Facebook, the website’s closely-guarded secret algorithm scans everything posted by friends, groups, and “liked” pages in the past week. Then it determines how likely you are to find each post worthwhile.

Image via  Giulio Napolitano/ Shutterstock 

In a powerfully worded message, the pope said he wanted to encourage media professionals to engage in “constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice” and help create a world of “realism and trust.” 

The pope’s message came days after President Trump launched a bitter attack on news media over its reporting on the size of his inauguration crowd. 

In his message, Francis said he was concerned about the focus on “bad news” that included “wars, terrorism, scandals and all sorts of human failure” by a media industry that thinks good news doesn’t sell and where the “tragedy of human suffering and the mystery of evil” easily become entertainment. 

the Web Editors 1-11-2017

Image via Joseph Sohm/ Shutterstock.com 

He referred to himself as “the greatest job producer that God ever created.”

Sheldon Good 9-23-2009

090923-new-york-post-were-screwedOn Monday, millions of people received a "special edition" of The New York Post that told the truth: "We're Screwed." I guess only fake newspapers can print real news.

More than 2,000 volunteers of The Yes Men, a "culture jamming" group, distributed a fake edition of The Post in New York City....