Faking the news

December 15, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Mainstream media are suddenly concerned about “fake news.” It used to be that phony stories were easy to spot. They usually

In this Oct. 18, 2011, file photo, traffic passes the New York Times building, in New York. The New York Times pushed back against President-elect Donald Trump, saying Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, that its paid subscriptions have jumped since the election, despite what Trump has said on Twitter. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

In this Oct. 18, 2011, file photo, traffic passes the New York Times building, in New York. The New York Times pushed back against President-elect Donald Trump, saying Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, that its paid subscriptions have jumped since the election, despite what Trump has said on Twitter. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

focused on space aliens or mysterious creatures found wandering deep in the woods. My personal favorite in this genre was a 1992 “story” in the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News that claimed the bones of Adam and Eve had been discovered in Colorado. A “leading archaeologist” was quoted, presumably to add credence to the fake story. In the internet age, things once thought incredible have taken on credibility. From spam email that claims someone in Nigeria wants to send you money, if you send them some first, to politicians engaging in behavior that only sounds true if you happen to hate the politician and believe he (or she) is capable of anything. It has become a lot easier to fool some of the people all of the time. A recent fake news story claimed Hillary Clinton was involved in a child sex ring run out of a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant. It prompted a deranged man with a gun to fire shots inside the place in hopes of liberating the “enslaved” children.  Please click to read the editorial by syndicated columist Cal Thomas.

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