We are drowning in a sea of nonsense and "fake news&quo

[UndercoverElephant]

Don't know where to start with this. Both the mainstream media and social media are now hopeless cesspits of lies and propaganda.

The mainstream media is either controlled by a few wealthy individuals or has some other agenda. Print media is slowly dying, but what is left of it is becoming more and more misleading and propagandistic all the time. The BBC has become a soft mouthpiece for the government and has a long list of things it won't report on at all, under-reports, or mis-reports (when was the last time you heard somebody on the BBC actually distinguish between "anti-semitism" and anti-zionism, for example?).

And social Media is even worse. Everywhere you go is is either a free-for-all troll-fest, or a bubble controlled by a small number of moderators who ban anyone who challenges the groupthink or punish the challenger to get them to shut up while allowing those who agree with the groupthink to break the rules.

And on top of the "natural dynamic", this whole thing is being distorted by armies of fake accounts, run by foreign governments (Russian, American, Israeli, probably others too) and other powerful organisations with some sort of agenda or other (everything from silencing criticism of Israel to interfering in elections and referendums).

The result of all this is that it is extremely difficult for anybody to find out the truth about anything at all. Society is becoming more and more polarised and fractured, and the quality of political news and debate is turning to sludge.

Basically, you can either join a bubble and abide by the accepted rules of that bubble, or you can try to defend "the truth" (as you see it, which is often likely to be controversial) and get banned. This is true pretty much everywhere: Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, the lot.

From my perspective, this is all getting worse all the time.

[fuzzy]

Thank you it deserved saying. 100% agree.

The most sinsister aspect is the news that disappears. When Tim McVie blew up Oklahoma, it was reported on-going for years. Now when someone kills 100 kids on US or Euro soil [or 1000 in the ME] the news is stopped by tommorrow. How can anyone believe these stories? I suspect maybe they don't want copycats, but still..? And then there is the Skripkal joke that no one believes, that is drip fed for years.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03- ... -narrative

[emordnilap]

Never used the twitfeed or fakebook kind of din but there are a handful of individuals you can rely on (at least it’s clear what their agenda is) plus RT, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya with circumspection.

Life’s too short to buy all the waffle. I spend my time growing, socialising, making music, walking with friends and a dog and I don’t do enough of any of these.

[emordnilap]

Something quite appropriate I read while sitting drinking my morning coffee, looking out on quite wild but pleasant weather and looking forward to a busy day:

How is it possible to be “happy� when one lives in a world characterised by ecological destruction, extreme inequality and injustice? It is impossible to feel happy having to listen day after day to celebrities, marketing characters, politicians and officials justifying sociopathic policies and decisions in an information sphere where these small minded fools get a huge amount of attention for the drivel that they talk.

The alternative, as formulated by therapists like Oliver James is to strive to be “authentic� rather than “happy�. For me that means living my life by going as far as I can, without overloading myself emotionally, trying to engage with the problems that I see all around me.

http://www.credoeconomics.com/happiness ... henticity/

[woodburner]

I spend my time growing, socialising, making music, walking with friends and a dog and I don’t do enough of any of these.

Oh dear, I stopped growing in my lte teens, I’m not very sociable, I can make a din, but not what anyone would describe as music, I’ve got bad feet with short endurance, I don’t have any friends, nor a dog. 😢

I do question a lot of what is put out in media channels especially if it’s presented as “the human race doomed if you don’t do what we suggest, and if you don’t we’re going to make it mandatory� (you might have noticed).

[emordnilap]

This is not fake news:

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2019/0 ... urovision/

[emordnilap]

I stopped growing in my lte teens, I’m not very sociable, I can make a din, but not what anyone would describe as music, I’ve got bad feet with short endurance, I don’t have any friends, nor a dog. 😢

“If everyone was the same they’d all want to marry my wife.�

[adam2]

Whilst fake news is indeed a growing problem, at least as big a problem is todays tendency to denounce as "fake" news with which the recipient disagrees.

Many issues are very divisive, Brexit being a good example. Many of those who strongly support one side tend to denounce any reports that support the other lot as being fake.

What annoys me, is not differing views on political, moral or religious matters, but views that are factually incorrect and that can be proved to be factually incorrect by a simple experiment.

Various magic electricity saving devices, petrol saving devices, and perpetual motion machines come into this category.
A fairly simple test, understood by anyone with a knowledge of basic science, would show that they don't work.

[clv101]

Pollution. We have a good understanding and a reasonable framework for dealing with air, water, light, noise etc pollution. We now live in the information age and 'information pollution' is becoming a major problem.

How can we deal with information pollution?

[vtsnowedin]

Pollution. We have a good understanding and a reasonable framework for dealing with air, water, light, noise etc pollution. We now live in the information age and 'information pollution' is becoming a major problem.

How can we deal with information pollution?

We should adopt a skeptical attitude, and fine tune our reading and hearing comprehension to ferreting out the hidden details often buried far down the page, and cultivate the habit of reading and understanding the fine print where many a lie is revealed.

[Lord Beria3]

Not sure what the big fuss is about.

There are quality news sources, telegraph, guardian, ft, Bloomberg, Reuters, asian times, BBC etc to use.

Mix it up with the quality end of the non mainstream media, for example insurge intelligence, blogs like Greer, WSWS, rt, as well populist sources like the daily mail and breibart and the eco end through forums like this and you should capture what is going on.

Be sceptical, read across the spectrum and always think for yourself!

[woodburner]

There are quality news sources, telegraph, guardian, ft, Bloomberg, Reuters, asian times, BBC etc to use.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😘

[plotter]

Somebody is trying to do something about the BBC, sadly it's on www.facebook.com/groups/36255947766642/ and as I'm incompetent at links I don't think that will work. The heading is Tell The Truth BBC and from what I can see the group actions have caused a bit more decent coverage of climate change of late than in the past. But still not enough.

[adam2]

Not sure what the big fuss is about.

There are quality news sources, telegraph, guardian, ft, Bloomberg, Reuters, asian times, BBC etc to use.

Mix it up with the quality end of the non mainstream media, for example insurge intelligence, blogs like Greer, WSWS, rt, as well populist sources like the daily mail and breibart and the eco end through forums like this and you should capture what is going on.

Be sceptical, read across the spectrum and always think for yourself!

I largely agree, though it must be said that a significant proportion of the population regard ANY mainstream media as being purveyors of fake news, and put much more faith in obscure websites, and in news media that others regard as propaganda outlets run by our enemies.

I doubt that we could have won the last war if most of population believed the Nazi propaganda, and disbelieved our own news broadcasts and papers.

[Lord Beria3]

Disagree.

Most people I know only go to the BBC website for news.

Those on the left-wing end go to their echo chambers, New Statesman, Guardian and the alternative left wing media but refuse to read centre or right-wing sources. That restricts their outlook.

Those on the right,whether establishment or populist, have their own set of echo sources.

Very few people do what I do and read across the board.

In regard to foreign news, hardly anybody reads RT - and I personally think its healthy that folks read international media not just blindly follow their own national media.