Musings: Fact or fiction? No easy task
Some of the Facebook and Instagram ads linked to a Russian effort to disrupt the American political process and stir up tensions around divisive social issues, released by members of the U.S. House Intelligence committee in 2017. Credit: AP/Jon Elswick
I have no idea of Tuesday’s presidential election outcome, but I do know that millions of dollars have been spent on radio, television and internet political ads. Separating fact from fiction is a herculean task.
I seek information that is fact-based and investigative. Although it doesn’t always work that way, some print journalism differs from all-news cable TV and radio programs whose political “news” seems to represent the opinion of the network or station owner.
Sometimes when I switch news channels, I believe a stranger watching would think the reporting was from two different worlds. And social media is the biggest source of false and confusing information. So much is written by anybody with a baseless opinion who now has a public platform to express fanciful views. These people have that right, and therefore we must carefully filter fact from fiction or, better yet, use more reliable resources such as noncommercial public television, radio and some newspapers.
— Bill Domjan, Melville
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