Reply to Fake News NWDC edition - too appalled to even shake my head

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Cite please, for fake news on the left of the magnitude and scale of pizzagate and Trump's tweets? [/quote]

Fake news promoted by mainstream media:  "Hands up, Don't shoot" in Ferguson.

How much violence and destruction has resulted from that fake news?  Lots more than Comet Pizza.

[/quote]

Fake news is something invented from whole cloth.  It's a lie intended to do nothing more than deceive the unwary and uncritical.  The fact a reputable media outlet like the NYT or WP reports something which is later called into doubt or is disproven does not make the reporting "fake."  The overwhelming number of journalists are smart, decent people who are dedicated do their very best to verify facts and corroborate witness accounts in consultation with editors.  They want to get it right the first time.  Reputation means something to them.  And, when there is an error, it is acknowledged and corrected or retracted.  Real reporters are fired for "fake" stories.  There's no equivalency.

By the way, if you've ever dealt with the media, you would know that they employ fact-checkers who verify the accuracy of reporting as well as on- and off-the-record quotes.  [/quote]

That is not always true.  Have you forgotten the presidential election controversy involving Dan Rather?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian_documents_controversy

Granted that was 2004; and Rathergate was a bitter reminder to the mainstream media (who are admittedly biased in favor of democrats) that their reporting would be fact-checked.

Flash forward to last year: while not on the level of "60 Minutes," the left-leaning periodical Rolling Stone FAILED MISERABLY to fact check their story on an alleged sexual assault by named members of a male on-campus Greek organization.

Their failure is now likely to cost the left-leaning Rolling Stone at least one multi-million dollar lawsuit or settlement for their failure to fact check.

Further - the lie on which BLM largely rests: "hands up, don't shoot!" is not the equivalent of the Comet PingPong hoax (on that we agree).  "Hand up, don't shoot!" is far WORSE - as that lie partially caused the cold-blooded assassination of 5 brave Dallas police officers who were, ironically, protecting the first Amendment rights of BLM protesters.

[/quote]

Right, those are memorable examples of a failure to fact-check, which were caught.  I don't think anyone is saying that the MSM is perfect.  Rather, we are distinguishing between failures in regular journalistic standards (which do definitely exist) and creation of a hoax/rumor out of full cloth that is later exploited politically.

FWIW Ferguson is NOT the only reason for the BLM movement.  "Hands up don't shoot" is a slogan; far from the entirety of the movement.  [/quote]

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