Breaking Fake News
Fact or fiction? Who knows? Who cares? We should… sometimes. In a generation where information is so readily available, how and when do we go about clearing up the lines between what’s the truth and what’s just there?
These decisions are totally contextual. If you’re writing a paper or looking for research to back up your theory on how to cure cancer, I’d say your best bet would be to take your time. However, if you’re planning your future life and would like to know what dog breed sheds the least, a quick Google will probably do you just fine.
Of course, in order to verify your canine findings, you’ll need to spend a little more time, thereby making the information a little less fast. But would you really care? Is the fast information you find going to turn out to be totally life altering if it’s not 100% accurate? In this case, probably not.
Really, that’s what I’m trying to get at. Some (in fact, most) information is okay to access and consume rapidly, because most information is useless shit that’s not going to make you a more educated, intelligent person. Realistically, half of my brain is memes and dad jokes… and that’s okay, as long as I try to make the other half a little less brain dead.
In order to reach that potential and cultivate my brain juices, I spend the time consuming things a little more worthwhile. Scholarly articles are one example. I’m tempted to say the news is another, but that’s where an interesting issue comes into play.
We expect major news outlets to give us the information that we want, that we need, and most importantly, the information that is unquestionably true. However, in the era of fake news and alternative facts, can we really trust all of them to deliver on that promise anymore? I don’t think so.
I think the biggest issue with news outlets, even those as seemingly reputable as the CBC and CNN, is that their reputations have created a facade of credibility, but in their pursuits of being the fastest source they may sometimes skip out on total accuracy. This, I would hope at least for the more major and generally more reliable sources, is less intentional and more because they want to get the news to us, the consumers, as quickly as they can (I wouldn’t put it past FOX news to blatantly lie, though).
I would also say that sometimes, the ambition to deliver news quickly isn’t necessarily disregarding the need for the total truth but is more based on the fact that details become available in a series and not all at once. As consumers, I think it is our duty to be fully aware of this reality and not jump to conclusions until the full story is available and delivered to us, whatever it may be. At the end of the day, we cannot totally blame the media for putting out false/incomplete information if we’re the ones who fall for it every time.
