“It is often very illuminating, therefore, to ask yourself how you got at the facts on which you base your opinion. Who actually saw, heard, felt, counted, named the thing, about which you have an opinion? Was it the man who told you, or the man who told him, or someone still further removed? And how much was he permitted to see?” – Walter Lippmann
The growing lack of public trust in media is not due to the growth of fake news online but rather to how media outlets cater to scientifically illogical beliefs.
Media organizations ostensibly take pride in providing objective reporting while emphasizing complete editorial independence, free of influence from influential individuals and institutions.
This is what distinguishes the media from propagandists and unscrupulous political commentators, whose primary goal is to sway public opinion in their favor.
But what if the same media supports the behavior of a biological male who believes he can be female and should be accorded the same rights and privileges as a biological female?
What if the same media censors the public debate that results from that behavior and, rather than discussing its benefits and drawbacks in society as a whole, decides to capitalize on this new ideology and embrace it despite its lack of scientific, philosophical, and moral foundations when placed under extreme academic and public scrutiny?
What happens when the media refuses to report on how the “woke” mindset has gone too far and has resulted in violence akin to terroristic activities?
What happens when that media chooses not to have the intellectual humility to admit that it can be wrong in the way it treats its news and the way it is delivered by not airing the other side of the conversation?
Then doesn’t it follow that the media has become partisan, politicized, and biased?
That instead of the media assisting people on how to decide and how to critically think, the media instead influences people on what to think?
Isn’t what the media is doing scientifically and objectively flawed?
Shouldn’t the media believe the adage that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too?
Other than the arguments I put forward above this article is something to consider when discussing about the proliferation of fake news.
See: How partisan polarization drives the spread of fake news