It Was Just a Rumor on Facebook. Then a Militia Showed Up.
www.nytimes.com
Residents of Oakdale, Calif., have abandoned traditional media outlets for a mishmash of online sources. These days, they’re often not sure what information to trust.
    • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
      185·
      8 months ago

      The problem is that the “main stream media” is also shitty and they lie all the time too.

      • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
        18·
        8 months ago

        Media literacy means having a sense of which outlets lie about which issues and why. eg: the Wall Street Journal editorials and op-eds are used as a means of introducing lies for commercial advantage, and New York Times politics writers put out puff pieces to maintain access to wealth and power.

        • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
          62·
          8 months ago

          Fair enough. Also knowing the general bias of a given outlet. I’m pretty much never going to trust anything from the NYT that coincides with the US state Dept narrative, and I feel similarly about the BBC and the British ministry.

          • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
            10·
            8 months ago

            I wouldn’t go where you are; I can think of several examples of the NYT and US State Department agreeing about Ukraine in ways that turned out to be very right. It’s more important to look at what evidence is brought to bear to support a conclusion, and whether the conclusion is valid based on the evidence, and to look at more than one outlet to understand an issue, so it’s not easy to use paltering to mislead.

        • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
          8·
          8 months ago

          Many of the traditional media outlets have always been pushing agendas too. You just may not have been aware of them. I don’t mean to equate them with patriot Joe’s bootlicker blog, exactly, but I also am no longer fooled by a facade of gravitas.

          • Ledericas@lemm.eeEnglish
            3·
            8 months ago

            they are all owned by conservatives thats why theres a agenda push, if you look up who owns these MSMs.

            • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
              2·
              7 months ago

              Of course I am absolutely against anything promoting fascism. I also think it is very important to analyze how we got to where we are. Part of the fault lies with our traditional media failing to do its job. I think it’s a mistake to place your hope in the people who led us down this path to save us from the consequences.

      • forrgott@lemm.ee
        5·
        8 months ago

        Dude. Nobody is beyond criticism in a free country.

        I’m sure he would agree, as he was offering his own criticism.

        They want to publish absolute bullshit, it’s perfectly fair to call them on it.

        So go ahead. But that’s not what this is about. This is not about reviewing things after the fact, it’s about the prejudicial bias used to justify “hand waving” any details. When you “already know you’re right” cause “they’re always wrong”, don’t be surprised when nobody cares about what you have to say.