Do what it take to find the truth

“My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with facts”

I appreciated the thought-provoking TGI editorial on June 26th regarding the Media Insight Project surveys of public perceptions about “the media” compared with journalists’ survey responses. Wow — two churches preaching to their congregations to not trust the media — reminds me of cult propaganda. I cannot begin to imagine Pope Francis or the late Billy Graham issuing such an edict.

This grabbed my attention: “Only a little more than half of the people said the press should act as a watchdog to powerful people and institutions, while 93 percent of journalists view this as their role.” Aside from reporting on scientific and cultural updates, I absolutely expect my news sources to pursue factual information on the proceedings in government, economy, society, and yes — institutions and powerful people, both in government and outside. I want to know what public resources are being looted — land grabs by corporations, bailouts that profit banksters and not homeowners — while we’re diverted by the outrage of the day.

Often the wealthy one-percenters seem to advocate for influence in government for their own best interests, and not necessarily for the greater good for We The People. The Citizens United decision in 2010 has resulted in almost unlimited political donation amounts, shielding donor information via PACs and corporations — corporations which were granted personhood rights under Citizens United. My life expectancy is actuarially around eighty years. What should be the life expectancy of a corporation?

Yes, we’re a nation of laws, and it’s unfair to the citizenry that corporations and the uber-wealthy are able to purchase new laws and influence through donations and lobbying while families of the 99-percenters are working three to five jobs to try to stay above water.

Our governments — local, state, federal — are comprised of humans who are civil SERVANTS. If their regulations, policies and actions are not totally transparent, we need to know why, and hold them accountable — they work for US!

I’ve been heartened lately by more articles about debunking misinformation and disinformation, and if this opinion piece of mine is published, I can comment online with the URLs of sources. Leonardo da Vinci said “the greatest deception men suffer is their own opinions.” Others have observed “you’re entitled to your own opinions, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.”

The Debunking Handbook, available as a free download, premises that to be effective: “First, the refutation must focus on core facts rather than the myth to avoid the misinformation becoming more familiar. Second, any mention of a myth should be preceded by explicit warnings to notify the reader that the upcoming information is false. Finally, the refutation should include an alternative explanation that accounts for important qualities in the original misinformation.”

CNN’s Brooke Baldwin used that technique in her three-minute report calling out President Donald Trump’s assertions during his exchange with the media a couple weeks ago on the White House lawn.

Amrita Khalid wrote in an article regarding fact-checking that “Reagan used to say, ‘Trust, but verify.’ I’d say verify first, and then determine if the source is worthy of your trust.” She continues with what she considers to be six of the best NON-partisan fact-checking sites online:

1- Politifact.com, rating claims from “True” to “Pants on Fire”

2- FactCheck.org with the “stated goal is to ‘apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding’.” They review “the year’s most egregious false claims in an annual ‘Whoppers of the Year’ story.” They also feature a “Viral Spiral” link to evaluate online rumors.

3- The Washington Post’s Fact Checker site “assesses claims made by politicians or political advocacy groups and gives out Pinocchios based on its level of accuracy.”

4- OpenSecrets.org “tracks money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy” and “the money that the private sector, industry groups, unions, and other lobbyists spend to lobby Congress.”

5- SunlightFoundation.com “is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses the tools of civic tech, open data, policy analysis and journalism to make our government and politics more accountable and transparent to all.” They also feature the Web Integrity Project whose “mission is to monitor changes to government websites, holding our government accountable by revealing shifts in public information and access to Web resources, as well as changes in stated policies and priorities.”

6- Snopes.com has been “the go-to destination for debunking strange internet rumors” since founded in 1995.

Ms Khalid lists “the best partisan fact-checking sites” as

1- MediaMatters.org analyzes “conservative media, including broadcast, radio, and print media for factual errors.”

2- NewsBusters.org “is a website that devotes itself to ‘combating liberal media bias’.”

ReportersLab.org has an interactive map of 149 fact-checking sites around the world.

US Sen. John McCain wrote an article in January titled “Mr. President, stop attacking the press.” He elaborated on the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, created by Pres Reagan after he left office, to recognize individuals who have fought to spread liberty worldwide. “Reagan recognized that as leader of the free world, his words carried enormous weight, and he used them to inspire the unprecedented spread of democracy around the world.” Our current president attempts to “discredit the free press by bestowing ‘fake news awards’ upon reporters and news outlets whose coverage he disagrees with. Whether Trump knows it or not, these efforts are being closely watched by foreign leaders who are already using his words as cover as they silence and shutter one of the key pillars of democracy.”

George Lakoff wrote an article also this past January, stating “Like some foreign dictator, the Republican in the White House will launch a planned attack on the free press today. But he’s been in an ongoing campaign against the truth since Day One.

“It’s alarming because presidents don’t act this way. Dictators do. And there’s evidence to suggest that the Republican president’s constant attacks on the news media have encouraged dictators in other countries to continue their repression of journalists.”

Though he now claims his remarks were jokes, two days before Thursday’s mass shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom, Milo Yiannopoulos, former senior editor at alt-Right Breitbart News, had told an Observer journalist “I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight.” On Saturday the 23rd, when asked about his decision to join the U.K. Independence Party, Yiannopoulos wrote in an email that he “can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight!”

People know the truth when they hear it. That’s why we say it has a ring to it. The truth may be hard to swallow. But it’s important to find.

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Susan Oakley is a resident of Kapaa.