Monday, January 16, 2017

No such thing as "Fake News" in a World of Lies


During periods of political tension or our own personal stress, we should turn to humour. 
Laughter is, as they say, "the best medicine".
Given that the Canadian media refuses to SHUT UP about the Trump Presidency, and are determined to drive us all crazy with their carping and sniping...
I recommend a brash new Blog called  COMICALLY  INCORRECT, published by cartoonist A.F. BRANCO.
Here is one of Branco's latest digs at the media elites.

Trump fingers Buzzed and CNN - cartoon by A.F. Branco

Robert Fisk, a British journalist whom I respect and trust, recently discussed the rabid response of the media elites to President Trump's personality and achievements. Specifically he addressed the use of the term "Fake News" and another equally smelly meme - "post-truth". Fisk's verdict:

"We do not live in a "post truth" world, neither in the Middle East nor in the West - nor in Russia, for that matter. We live in a world of lies.  And we always have lived in a world of lies."

Exactly. Last night I was immersed in a text used in the Communications Studies program here at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. In an essay on the influence of newspapers (written, ironically, in 1984) I paused over one sentence in particular. "Today's news stories cover predictable themes,  with place of occurrence a  fill-in-the blank exercise."  That is something we have all observed. Television news operates on the same principle. Doesn't it? Fill-in-the blanks and fill their heads with worthless crap. Do they ever cover events and stories you would wish them to? Rarely.

That is the core problem, and millions of thinking people are sick of it.  Media elites, especially those who insist on being referred to as "journalists"... that is "Licensed Information Practitioners", have been marching in lockstep with the political elites for decades, and that too, we are sick of.  

I don't use Twitter or Facebook, so I don't witness firsthand what President Trump has to say.  I only get the the ferocious media response.  

I have bookmarked COMICALLY INCORRECT.   I need a good laugh now and then.