STOP FAKE NEWS
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Freedom of the press is the right to circulate opinions in
print without censorship by the government. Americans enjoy freedom of
the press under the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states:
'Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.'
freedom of the press -
Legal Definition. n. The right, guaranteed by the First Amendment
to the United States Constitution to publish and distribute information in
books, magazines, and newspapers without government intervention.
freedom of the press
noun
1.
the right to publish newspapers, magazines, and other printed matter without governmental restriction and subject only to the laws of libel,
obscenity, sedition, etc.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2017.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2017.
freedom
of the press. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/freedom-of-the-press
Each of the above definitions found on the internet
telling us the meaning of the 1st Amendment’s “Freedom
of the Press” clearly show that there are two roads of thought concerning that
freedom. There are actually incredible
differences in these statements. What
the actual amendment says, I believe very clearly, is “Congress shall make no
laws regarding abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”. Abridging is also synonymous with
“shortening, editing, condensing, abbreviating or reducing”. So basically, I think we can see how people
believe that ultimately Congress cannot MAKE LAWS that would stop anyone from
saying whatever they want to say…and publishing it.
The second definition above angered me…but also proved that
what I’ve seen with my ears and heard with my ears is FAKE NEWS. Some believe the purpose of the press is “the
right to circulate opinions in print without censorship by the
government.” There’s a word there that
blows me away. One of the words I
associated with “News” when I was growing up was that we were being told the
TRUTH…the WHOLE TRUTH. I remember
newscasters saying, “And in the interest of fairness…” before introducing “the
other side of the story”. I knew as a
child that there were ALWAYS two sides to a story. That’s proven every day in the courtroom
where you ALWAYS have the accused (the defendant) and the one who has brought
the charges (the prosecution). There is ALWAYS
a balance in any story that is reported FAIRLY.
But this second definition is a game changer. It says that the “News” is really just an
“opinion”. Now I don’t know about you,
but I know that just because I think something…my “opinion”…does NOT make it
news…does not make it fact…does not make it accurate. And when I share my opinion, I always preface
it with “in my opinion” to show imperatively that what I’m sharing IS NOT A
FACT. An opinion is NEVER truth. It’s the nearest thing a person may have to a
personal truth…but until “proven” it is NOT A FACT. If you put 10 people in a room who all share
the same opinion, it does not make the opinion FACT…it makes it just POPULAR
OPINION. If you decide the popular
opinion is TRUTH…and you share it as such with people who do not know there are
differing FACTS to the story that completely change the TONE and TRUTH of the
story, then you are doing nothing but sharing PROPAGANDA. You are NOT sharing “real news”.
prop·a·gan·da
information, especially of a biased or misleading nature,
used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
synonyms:
information, promotion, advertising, publicity, spin; disinformation,
counter-information; historical agitprop; informal info, hype, plugging; puff
piece; the big lie
Look how closely the words press/propaganda are
related. Both words are about dispensing
“information”. Propaganda takes on a
more “sinister” connotation because it’s done with the purpose of “promoting a
particular political cause or point of view (can we agree that “point of view”
and “opinion” are the same by definition?).
The FAKE NEWS title that President Trump introduced to
America may have done us a total disservice. He should have defined today's news as nothing more that sheer PROPAGANDA! The truth of the matter is that multiple media sources find absolutely
nothing wrong with promoting their own VIEW or OPINION of a situation and then
finding multiple sources to back up what was initially THEIR OPINION. In the church, we call that
“proof-texting”…finding a verse to back up your opinion to make your opinion
sound more plausible, factual and Biblical. But
guess what? A LIE IS A LIE IS A LIE…no
matter how many people believe it. If it
is just an opinion…if it is just a point of view…if there are FACTS that deny
its plausibility…IT IS A LIE. And an
organization that continually spreads lies in the presence of truth should not be labeled PRESS….it should be labeled PROPAGANDA! We live in a world of fallen men and
women…liars…thieves…adulterers…fornicators…coveters. Their OPINIONS are all biased.
In science, we demand that an experiment must be able to be
reproduced with the same outcome before it is declared a TRUTH or FACT of
science. Until then, it is just a
theory. We need to use the same
scientific imperial in what we choose to understand from the media. For that to happen, the PRESS must stop
infringing on a person’s right to trial to determine whether they’ve done or
not done what the press claims. We live
in a country where a person is innocent until PROVEN guilty. The “press” somehow believes they are in
charge of “holding people accountable”.
The press has basically usurped the power of the judicial
system…dragging a man’s or woman’s name through the court of public opinion
before they have a chance to even make a statement regarding an incident. If the accused cries “Foul”, the press says, “We’re holding people accountable.”
THAT IS NOT THE JOB OF THE PRESS.
Their job is to share INFORMATION and FACTS…not PROPAGANDA. Their job is to share TRUTH…not OPINION (unless it’s labeled as such). Their job is to INFORM…not to SWAY. America is on a slippery slope when we take the word of every Joe Schmo who serves in the media as “truth”. Remember…these media reporters and announcers appear to live for their 15 minutes to fame (yes…that’s just my opinion and not a truth) just like the rest of us. They appear to have high goals of saving the world from impending doom or dangerous despots. They appear to find it easy to place the blame for anything and everything happening in this world on the back of someone who’s had nothing to do with decade- and centuries-old problems. It’s time for American citizens to wise up to the fact that the press has stepped out of its boundaries and become a powerful political player in the U.S. with the ability to sway opinions using propaganda under the guise of “news”. It’s time for the American people to hold the PRESS accountable. The president has more important things to do.
Their job is to share INFORMATION and FACTS…not PROPAGANDA. Their job is to share TRUTH…not OPINION (unless it’s labeled as such). Their job is to INFORM…not to SWAY. America is on a slippery slope when we take the word of every Joe Schmo who serves in the media as “truth”. Remember…these media reporters and announcers appear to live for their 15 minutes to fame (yes…that’s just my opinion and not a truth) just like the rest of us. They appear to have high goals of saving the world from impending doom or dangerous despots. They appear to find it easy to place the blame for anything and everything happening in this world on the back of someone who’s had nothing to do with decade- and centuries-old problems. It’s time for American citizens to wise up to the fact that the press has stepped out of its boundaries and become a powerful political player in the U.S. with the ability to sway opinions using propaganda under the guise of “news”. It’s time for the American people to hold the PRESS accountable. The president has more important things to do.
How do we hold the press accountable? Write letters to the editors when false news
is fabricated or opinions are shared as facts.
Pick three stories from any newspaper and see if you can tell the
difference between fact and opinion and if they’ve marked it as such (obviously
“opinions” are on an “Opinions” page and are not to be considered fact…use a
different section to study the article).
IF YOU FIND JUST ONE MISTAKE IN THE ARTICLE, then dismiss the whole
article. It’s either all true or all
false…there is no gray area. Talk to
your friends about this travesty. Start
educating each other about the fact that if we don’t hold the press
accountable, we become gullible…and will be fed lies as truth. We may have already crossed that line long
ago!
We demand evidence in science to determine FACT. We demand evidence in court to determine
FACT. We need to demand evidence in the
PRESS…or deny plausibility when they print a story that is not true…whether by
error on the part of the author….whether by outright lies of the witnesses….BUT
THE PRESS HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE INFORMATION….ACCURATE INFORMATION. I for one am tired of the whiners and even
more troubled by the vulnerable people who have accepted the lies as truth and
become blinded to reality.
By the way…this tirade is credited to a clip I saw of “The
View” (I never see the show…just clips shared online…and I keep telling myself
I’m not going to watch because theirs is the BIGGEST PROPAGANDA SHOW on
television). Joy Behar had her audience
cheering when she shared a story PREMATURELY.
The story was labeled “Joy Behar Forced to Apologize”. All she
apologized for was someone else’s mistake…not her own. She led people to cheer about something that
could have torn our nation apart.
There’s a special word for someone like that…TRAITOR. (again…my opinion). Even television has no standards for
TRUTH….but we’ve known that for a long time.
DEMAND TRUTH IN THE PRESS!
STOP FAKE NEWS!
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