“Enemy”
Fake News. Fake News. Fake News. Fake News.
Whether it is in all caps, finding itself to be the keystone of our new president’s tweets, or coming out of the mouth of your closest relative; the idea of fake news is essential at this current moment.
I recently posted a ridiculous, egregious, and refutable “news story” on my Facebook page. It entailed a story of President Obama, being arrested with a car trunk full of cocaine… I know, it was as insane as you think it was.
What I found to be the results of this experiment, were nothing surprising; unfortunately. In the matter of less than 12 hours, I received 13 comments, and a few responses to those comments. A few fell for it, engaging in debates over the topic, arguing against its validity, and questioning select portions of the article (I use that term loosely here). But then a few understood the insanity in its fundamental nature, how could a just-sitting president be in a car without secret service checking everything, how would this not be plastered over the entire news circuit. It would be nothing short of the reaction that followed when Big Sean released the song, Control, featuring two verses that essentially halted all up-to-date social media outlets, by Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica. Think about it, if something of this proprtion were to occur, every single TV channel, every website, every news outlet of any source would cover it as if it were the new O.J. Case. Only a few major internet events have occurred, and this would have been one.
So from now on, let us make a pact together, as all social media users, to take a deep breath when we see a story with such large ramifications as this article. Do not get flustered, do not destroy long standing relationships; just relax.
Now let us circle back to the initial point of this post, our president’s use of the term. Fake news,
refers to false information or propaganda published under the guise of being authentic news.
IT IS NOT CNN, IT IS NOT THE HUFFINGTON POST, IT IS NOT MSNBC, IT IS NOT FOX NEWS, IT IS NOT THE NEW YORK TIMES. While these may have biased and subjective tendencies *cough* Huff Post and Fox News *cough* they are not Fake News. If our president disagrees with a punishment, or an editorial focused on his actions and policies, HE CANNOT DEEM THEM TO BE FAKE OR PROPAGANDA. Please remember this and hold it close to both your mind and heart. We have a culture fundamentally based on two sides telling different renditions of the same stories.
This past Sunday, Fox News host, Chris Wallace, acted through true journalism and questioned the Trump administration and their attacks on our free and independent media.
This is a politically right journalistic outlet, being forced into questioning their own side. This is necessary. Applaud them for this move, let it begin the mending of our nation, use this when we test Trump. Whether you are a conservative or a liberal, a democrat or a republican, a BLM member or an All Lives Matter participant, a blue collar or a white collar worker, an educated or uneducated citizen, an immigrant or a “native;” none of this matters. What does matter? We live in a free country, we live in a nation that used journalism to take down a corrupt Nixon administration, a collective of people that forced Reagan to admit to lying to millions about Iran-Contra, a populace that read and created a transparent government that acts as a standing example for all other republics and democracies across the globe. I plead, that this idea is never forgotten. I beg that we do not buy into the administration’s attack on our first amendment right.
We have been tricked before, but we have bent and not broken. Stand together in solidarity, and do not forget the first words of the Constitution of this tremendous nation; We the people…
