the prevalence of twisted news
I recently watched a video from Hank Green about a segment on Meet the Press in Green Tech (below). The video made me consider how facts are often manipulated because of biases from the people who present them.
TL;DW (Too Long; Didn’t Watch): He dissects a statement made by a pundit from the AEI that manipulates the facts to make it seem that Climate Change is not a big deal and America is actually doing better than Europe.
This situation has become common place in our partisan world. It is highly likely that two news sources will report the same story, but with completely different content, titles, pictures, and reader impressions of the story. The accepted solution for this is “keep your news unbiased” which is impossible, as everyone has their biases, and no way to get rid of them.
Now to “twisted” news, which I’m defining as technically true stories, but they hide the true situation. These thoughts were brought on by someone from the AEI, which is a conservative institution that is against regulation and for corporate entities, however twisted news can come from any political stance, or from anyone with a bias for that matter. Even on this issue of climate change, people who are gravely concerned about it can manipulate the data to favor their arguments. The data doesn’t lie, but you can make it say what you want. I’ve seen several maps that show the change in temperature over about the past 50 years and future predictions of the temperature, and the majority of them dramatize warming more than cooling. Even though more dramatic changes in either direction prove that climate change is occurring, the public does not have this understanding, so the warming is emphasized to show proof of global warming.
Obviously, this manipulation is dangerous as it can lead to unfair stereotyping, or avoidance of a major problem. Or hyper-focus on a small one.
And the solution! It is simply said, but not simply done: stay informed. The two words repeated over and over, but often not followed out of apathy. However the only clear way I see to fight against twisted news is to constantly seek out the truth by reading several sources before making your own opinion. Not one person will have the answers, let alone the correct ones. As discussed earlier, In our current culture, highly partisan, separated, and main stream news sources are unavoidable. This is why the solution has to come from the individual, rather than a think tank or media conglomerate. And if you think this ending is disappointing, you’re not alone. I too feel a little let down by this conclusion. I mean, I criticized it earlier in this piece. However, I see no other viable solution to twisted news…
…Other than the Skimm. Sign up for free at…(jk)
