- Joined
- Dec 2, 2015
- Messages
- 16,568
- Reaction score
- 7,253
- Location
- California Caliphate
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
Journalism’s New Propaganda Tool: Using “Confirmed” to Mean Its Opposite
Tl;dr media confirming� is equal to agreeing a rumor is true, by confirming it with someone who believes the same rumor.
The media is doing a disservice to well meaning people who reflectively react hammer and tong at the slightest accusation that conforms to their hatred of their enemy. Unfortunately for the country, the press is facilitating these divisions for profit by substituting facts �(1), for conformation (2).
(1) fact: Mr. so and so witnessed the event.
(2) conformation: the charge was verified by others who choose not to be named.
So for those of you who are satisfied with (2), you get nowhere insulting those who expect (1).
We have two months of this bull**** coming from the most sophisticated bomb throwing, propaganda artists in America, in a world with no rules.
Putin and Xi Pingpong cant hold a candle to these guys. Oh, BTW, we are all their targets. So dont get played for a sucker, unless you just enjoy it!
But journalism is not supposed to be grounded in whether something is “believable� or “seems like it could be true.� Its core purpose, the only thing that really makes it matter or have worth, is reporting what is true, or at least what evidence reveals. And that function is completely subverted when news outlets claim that they “confirmed� a previous report when they did nothing more than just talked to the same people who anonymously whispered the same things to them as were whispered to the original outlet.
Quite aside from this specific story about whether Trump loves The Troops, conflating the crucial journalistic concept of “confirmation� with “hearing the same idle gossip� or “unproven assertions� is a huge disservice. It is an instrument of propaganda, not reporting. And its use has repeatedly deceived rather than informed the public. Anyone who doubts that should review how it is that MSNBC and CBS both claimed to have “confirmed� a CNN report which turned out to be ludicrously and laughably false. Clearly, the term “confirmation� has lost its meaning in journalism.
Tl;dr media confirming� is equal to agreeing a rumor is true, by confirming it with someone who believes the same rumor.
The media is doing a disservice to well meaning people who reflectively react hammer and tong at the slightest accusation that conforms to their hatred of their enemy. Unfortunately for the country, the press is facilitating these divisions for profit by substituting facts �(1), for conformation (2).
(1) fact: Mr. so and so witnessed the event.
(2) conformation: the charge was verified by others who choose not to be named.
So for those of you who are satisfied with (2), you get nowhere insulting those who expect (1).
We have two months of this bull**** coming from the most sophisticated bomb throwing, propaganda artists in America, in a world with no rules.
Putin and Xi Pingpong cant hold a candle to these guys. Oh, BTW, we are all their targets. So dont get played for a sucker, unless you just enjoy it!