The Rise of Fake News and why the Mainstream Media is Dead

I'll begin with one of the more dramatic and recent examples to be found of fake news in the mainstream media. In October of 2016, several mainstream media outlets such as Reuters, the Daily Mail and others, reported on a car bomb in Baghdad that killed several people and injured as many as 30.

Shockingly, the entire event was staged, as this video reveals.

The Blue Pill

Recently, social media titans like Facebook and Twitter have joined with the Mainstream Media to clamp down on what they call "Fake News". The phenomenon of fake news is certainly not new. Propaganda has been rebranded with the #FakeNews hashtag as the Mainstream media goes on the offensive to smear alternate news sources.

Trump

Shortly after Donald Trump was elected president on November 8, 2016, there was a sharp rise in the fake news search terms on Google.

The timing of this trend, in addition to the narrative from the mainstream media suggests that it was the use of fake news that helped to get Trump into office. This article at the Guardian suggested as much.

An important point to remember is that propaganda was utilized by both candidates to varying degrees of effect in the campaign.

Of concern is the move by Social Media outlets to attempt to influence the perception of what information is worth consuming. Social media has no business shaping public opinion.

I wrote this to bring attention to some examples of how we have been influenced or had our trust in the media betrayed.

Let's begin with an article about a method that Facebook is examining to "combat fake news". You can view it here

While on the face of it, this seems reasonable, it is still a system that relies upon trust. A website's "reputation", for example is simply a redirection of trust to a different source. What determines a site's reputation? Liberals and Conservatives often do not agree on the legitimacy of a news source. Have a look at these polar opposite articles on the crisis in Venezuela:

It would seem that "Mainstream" sources would have the default on trustworthiness and reputation. They have the longevity, the funding, the largest reach. However, that is all changing with the rise of Social Media. It's a critical time to monitor closely how and where we consume ideas or stories.

Declining Trust

Here we can see that the public in general and in particular, Republicans, are gravitating away from mainstream media sources as their trust declines.

As Gallup has inferred, we can also deduce that a predominantly ** Liberal ** bias exists in the mainstream media. It's important to note that the overall trust has been in constant decline since the 1970's. This is happening as Social media has facilitated access to other sources of information. The public can now easily fact check and do research on their own. Indeed, this has hurt mainstream sources dramatically.

This spectacular infogram shows how media companies have declined from 50 in 1983, down to just 6 by 2011. Six private companies are controlling 90% of the mainstream media. This has made it easier to abuse the trust that was earned in the past by solid investigational journalism, to today where traditional media sources (TV, radio, newspapers) are in competition with alternate sources (internet). The trends are pretty clear and the writing is on the wall for the Mainstream Media.

So can we really trust the Mainstream Media? Should we allow someone to decide for us if a source is reputable? Lets have a look at some examples from the Mainstream news so we can decide for ourselves.

A Historical Look at Fake News

The Washington Post

One of the earlier and more spectacular fake news stories is the story of Washington Post writer, Janet Cooke. In September, 1980, she wrote this article about an eight year old heroin addict. The story was so good it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981. It was then revealed that the story was a complete fabrication.

NBC

Before the rise of Social Media, it took a great deal of effort to verify media stories. In this story from 1992, Dateline NBC was caught faking a story about explosive fuel tanks on Chevrolet pickups. General Motors was tipped off to the story and knowing how damaging it could be to their business, went on the offensive. GM duplicated the tests and exposed NBC's false narratives. Watch.

CNN

During the early 1990's, CNN attempted to report on the Iraq Gulf war from the safety of a studio. The reporter and his interview should rightfully be shamed for this piece of fiction. The acting is comical and shows a complete disregard for the truth.

Iraq State TV

While we're talking about the Gulf War, who can forget "Baghdad Bob", the Iraqi Information Minister?

CBS and Dan Rather

You may or may not have heard of "RatherGate". It was a career ender for the once respected journalist, Dan Rather. He failed to fact check a source that provided fake documents concerning George Bush's military service. Instead of ensuring authenticity, he ran with it. The viewers, however, dug deeper and exposed the hoax. This clip summarizes the scandal as they discuss a movie on the subject.

Modern Examples of Fake News from the Mainstream Media (AKA. the Red Pill)

US Weekly

US Weekly shared this "feel good" moment with Hillary Clinton

Is the narrative ruined if the audience where to find out that Brittany Valente, the random shopper is actually a marketing manager that knows Hillary?

NY Times and CNN

But the Mainstream media couldn't help themselves and presented this story, where Hillary met with a "random hiker" and stopped for a selfie. This appeared on the NYTimes and CNN, to name a couple

ABC

Here a reporter is using fake police tape to create the illusion of being at a crime scene.

CNN

In this video, we see Don Lemon from CNN interviewing an animated Hillary supporter. Unfortunately, this scam is quickly exposed when an anchor identifies the man as a CNN cameraman.

NBC

NBC was caught editing this video for greater effect in the Zimmerman case. His 911 call was selectively cut to imply a racist overtone.

MSNBC

MSNBC edited this video to suggest that armed white people were upset with Obama, when in reality, the armed man was black. Have a look.

NBC

After being exposed for telling viewers that he was in a helicopter that was hit by RPG fire, Brian Williams from NBC issues a public apology.

CNN

CNN green screens themselves onto a ship to report on tensions in the Gulf.

MSNBC

MSNBC ticker reads "DNC chair receives cheers", to a chorus of boos and jeers.

CNN and MSNBC

This is an interesting compilation of reporters from CNN and MSNBC using the same talking points, as if they'd been handed a script, when describing Hillary Clinton's health

Final Thoughts