Category Archives: “Fake News”

Who do I trust?

Posted on by
8

I am NOT a sore loser. Though deeply disappointed when George W. Bush was elected, I took a deep breath and told myself, “This isn’t the end of the world.” 

The day after the 2016 election I was despondent. I feared (and still fear) that Trump’s election may well mean—maybe not the end of the world but the end of American democracy. My fears arose from paying close attention to what he said and tweeted during the campaign. 

Now as then his own words have made it increasingly clear that he has neither knowledge of nor respect for the Constitution. His own words have demonstrated that if facts don’t suit his purposes he’ll lie. That his brand of Christianity holds no resemblance to one that emphasizes compassion, hospitality, and justice. That he has no respect for naval officers who were prisoners of war or for parents of fallen soldiers, no respect for people with disabilities. His own words of belittlement have demonstrates his disregard for the most basic rules of civility. We can tell from what he says and tweets daily that he is not a “stable genius” but a man with a limited vocabulary who is mentally unstable. His insecurities and narcissism put our democracy and our national security at risk.

Unlike Trump I hold in high regard educated and experienced journalists, particularly those at The New York Times and The Washington Post. They are carrying out their responsibility to inform the American public, to bring to light what some leaders would like to keep in the dark. 

Through the work of professional journalists we learn that the Trump administration is forbidding public servants whose salaries we pay to speak to Congressional committees. Thanks to professional journalists we learn that Trump’s efforts to prove that Russia did not interfere in our 2016 election lead him to pressure small countries for his personal benefit. We hear him speak of a witch hunt and fake news and how Mitt Romney, who spoke critically about him, should be impeached. I for one trust professional journalists more than I trust him.

A talking point used by Republicans trying to discredit the impeachment inquiry is that Democrats won’t accept that they lost. I can’t speak for all Democrats but I’m convinced that the inquiry has nothing to do with sportsmanship and everything to do with protecting our democracy.

Thank you, Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.

Dare Americans tune out?

Posted on by
7

The Rachel Maddow Show may contribute to Alzheimer’s. Her investigative discoveries right before bedtime upset my circadian rhythms, and studies point to a connection between sleep deprivation and Alzheimer’s. Mornings, when I watch “New Day” on CNN, I’m reminded that our democracy eroded even more overnight.

A lot of my friends are saying, “I’m to the point where I avoid the news. It’s too upsetting.”

I’ve also heard—this from both liberals and Trump supporters—“All the Russia stuff is too hard to keep track of.” There are all those -oviches, -akovs, and other foreign sounding names. Even the Americans—Manafort, Flynn, Gates, Papadopoulos, Pinedo, Cohen—seem indistinguishable after a while. Hearing who’s been accused, who’s pleaded guilty—so much input can overload the brain.

Meanwhile our president rants against “fake news.” At a recent Trump rally, the crowd’s profanity and obscene gestures at TV cameras had to be bleeped. I fear for our democracy’s survival when a large segment of the population believes professional journalists are not truthful.

What kind of news do Americans want? Entertaining news. Hence stories on TV networks often cover animal rescues and freak accidents. News conveyed simply, in a few sound bytes. I’m as bad as anyone when it comes to having a lazy brain. I look at a science article for non-scientists and quickly decide I don’t want to concentrate that much. Understanding complicated issues such as immigration, climate change, and world trade requires too much effort. Besides, with our traditional American optimism we want to believe that somebody will solve the problems.

We live in a time when we dare not avoid information just because it depresses us, bores us, or taxes our brain. Russian interference in the 2016 election, migrant children and parents separated at the border, the opening of Alaskan wilderness to oil producers, lifetime appointments of conservative federal judges—all of these demand our informed consideration.

Many highly trained journalists are putting the information out there if we but bother to read or watch. They write for The New York Timesand Washington Postand can be heard on PBS and CNN. And of course there’s Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. (For the sake of a good night’s sleep, my husband and I record her and watch during the day.)

The times call for vigilance. A sentry doesn’t have the luxury of averting his/her eyes. A sentry must concentrate and be hyper-aware. For Americans vigilance demands that we be well informed. We need to stay tuned in so we can turn out.

Nancy Werking Poling, of Black Mountain, is author of Before It Was Legal: a black-white marriage (1945-1987).