Did I say Fake News?
I am a big fan of Voltaire (born François-Marie Arouet), who was an advocate of Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, and the complete separation of Church and State. His advocacy sent him to prison, in the infamous French Bastille for about one year between May 1717 and April 1718. His cell was windowless and had 10ft thick walls. Voltaire was also sent into exile to England.
His work about freedom of speech is considered by some to be the seeds of the freedom of the press. Back in Voltaire’s time, the press was allowed to speak the same words as the 2 main ruling groups – the nobility / King court and the Church. Going against it was considered treason and deserved Bastille’s time as Voltaire did.
One thing that Voltaire fought for was unbiased reporting of facts and letting the “populace” decide for themselves and not disguising facts to lead people into what was the “good word”.
Today, we are having the same problem as Voltaire – how do we ensure that what we read are facts and not embellished or dramatized news?
For example – a fact: it’s raining after 3 months of drought
- Embellished: our gardens are happy. The rain is finally here.
- Dramatized: After an extremely long drought, an erosion-prone rain arrived.
Are these two statements reflecting the facts, yes, they do, but one lacks the long drought, and the other sees the negative effect of the rain only. I know it’s a very simplified version of interpreting facts, but it leads to fake news even though both versions are true.
Voltaire was adamant about facts, and we forgot about it. He said something that sounds like, “Not letting the people decide for themselves is a crime”.
I feel that today everything is interpreted without exception. I saw on a local channel a report about someone driving for free a dog to its terminally ill owner, 1,000 miles westbound, and how beautiful it was, while on another channel, the same fact became a question about the driver’s GoFundme to raise $1,000+ to drive a dog to an ill individual with no mention of terminally ill, 1,000 miles west…
Well, what is true? an act of kindness or greed? I am not sure at all, as I can’t verify the facts and can’t rely on the press to point me in the right direction 🙁 Both are correct but oriented.
Where do we go from there? Question everything? Read news from multiple sources and origins to make an educated opinion.
Real fake news is meant to mislead in order to damage an entity or person, and/or to gain financial or political advantage. Hoax often uses fabricated facts to increase the number of readers. It’s also used in an advertisement as clickbait stories for advertising revenues.
Real fake news or hoax for money
We have all heard of fake viral stories on Youtube – what a waste of time, we would say until we learn that YouTube ads are quite juicy for Youtubers. It goes anywhere from $1 to $50 per thousand views – if viewers click on ads 🙂 In the best-case scenario, a sensational hoax will attract viewers and thus generate ads revenue – a million views video could bring home between $1,000 and $50,000 🙂 how many can you create per year?
Real fake news or hoax for power
You are a leader in your field, and someone wants your top spot. What if that someone (me) claims you peed your pants in public, more than once – easy to verify the facts.
I had talks with family witnesses who confirmed you had to wear diapers. Oh, did I forget to mention that the peeing accident happened when you were 6 months old? My bad, and too late … 🙂
Your top-notch reputation is… gone. Who would have any business with someone who can’t control him/herself? Would you? No, and your 2nd in line of command is more than ready to take your job while you seek treatment.
You know it’s a hoax, I know, I made it up. What about your customers, staff, and friends… how many would feel disturbed when you ask for the bathroom or point to the bathroom when you show up?
It became too easy to control the news and our opinion.
In the digital age, it has become easier than ever to control the news and the opinions of the masses. With powerful algorithms, governments, businesses, and even individuals can instantly get their messages across to vast audiences.
Unfortunately, this can be exploited to serve particular agendas, as news sources can be biased by the interests of those controlling the narrative, and opinion pieces can be deliberately framed in order to sway public opinion.
It is important now more than ever for individuals to think critically and investigate different sources in order to create a more holistic understanding of the world.
Leave a Reply