Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Bias Re-Visited…with a Side of Fake News


Outrage, Inc.: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism and Hollywood – Derek Hunter (Broadside)

Back in 2001, former CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg set the news media industrial complex on it’s ear with his bestselling expose of the network news business’ clearly left leaning tilt in the book Bias. Goldberg’s colleagues cried hysterically and denial in reaction to the examples of the liberal slanting of the news.

Now 17 years later, conservative columnist, blogger and contributing editor Derek Hunter has served up a kicked-up version, that not only details media bias, but how the media world has changed dramatically in the intervening time; where clueless comedians masquerade as newsman and are taken seriously, low IQ nitwits can air their grievances online and Twitter, Twitiots can take down CEOs with a concerted #hashtag campaign.



In Outrage, Inc.: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism and Hollywood, Hunter cites chapter and verse examples of how even the minimally aggrieved have run amok as mobbed up, often anonymous tyrants who aren’t satisfied until they utterly silence those they disagree with. It not enough to have public debate and discourse, if you dare to differ, you will be pummeled.

Liberals love to claim conservatives “hate science”, but who has done more damage to actual science than nitwits like children’s television host Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astro-physicist who masquerades as a climate science “expert”. The clueless cabal can’t be bothered to ask what makes these two circus clown experts about what the preach when it comes to climate science. If you dare to question, be prepared to forever be labeled a “denier”.

Unlike the lefties he takes down brick by brick, Hunter actually backs up his theories with countless examples that get backed up with actual, reliable sources. Imagine that!

Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to Find Trustworthy Information in the Digital Age – Donald Barclay - (Rowman and Littlefield)

It used to be a cornerstone of primary education that students were taught critical thinking skills. It was what would form the basis for something (depending on your age) that your parents or grandparents would label common sense. In the mad rush in public education, to make sure Johnny feels good about himself, critical thinking skills were tossed off the education island so a couple of generations (at least) have gone lacking when it comes to common sense.

So much of the national machination over what has been popularly dubbed “fake news” it gets lost that if you bring even a bit of critical thinking skill to the table, much of this stuff falls apart under its own weight. Leave it to a librarian to serve up what I can only call a needed lesson in common sense and critical thinking in the form of Donald Barclay’s Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to Find Trustworthy Information in the Digital Age.



Barclay kicks it old school and offers great examples of not only the current state of propaganda, but also the historical use of the form. He also points out how we as news consumers can fine tune our bullshit detectors and raise good, thoughtful questions about what comes across our screens on a daily basis. In my humble opinion, question everything should be the starting point for, well, everything.

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