Do You Swear to Tell the Truth . . .

A lot of what I write about comes from what seems to overflow from my brain. Currently, it seems that my social media is overcome with something called “fake news", and my brain has just about had enough of it.

Heard of it? It’s a phrase that came about shortly after Hillary Clinton conceded the election (due to the Electoral College - which, to the dismay of those crying over her winning the “popular vote", she actually acknowledges). I’m not exactly sure of the origin of the phrase. Please feel free to comment and give me your suggestions as to where you think the phrase came from. I post all comments - even those I disagree with - as long as they are not spam.

What spurred this post is a movie. Normally, my wife and I go by a list of movies we want to see; made up of movies we own, along with movies that we want to see that were covered on a podcast called “Film Sack", which I call IMDB on steroids and laughing gas. My wife suggested that we go through our movie list alphabetically. Unfortunately, along with the TV shows we are watching, it is taking us quite a bit of time to get through our list. It has been a few years and we’ve only just finally finished the “D"s.

Anywho, the movie that inspired this blog was a movie my wife wanted to watch that was not on our list: “Zootopia". Yeah, and even if it was on the list, can you imagine how far into our retirement it would take to finally get to the “Z"s?

(Note:  We just finished the “D"s of a list of movies over 500 titles long.)

“Zootopia". Have you seen it? If you haven’t, you should. It is not only a fun story, the visuals are so amazing that you’ll sometimes forget that they were done with a computer.

However, about halfway through the film I paused the movie and stated that I was very annoyed with all of the propaganda being shoved down our throats, even in a kids/family movie.

For those of you who’ve watched a lot of Disney films, you are aware that there is usually some type of messaging taking place in the films. And this is not new. Ever watch “Mary Poppins"? (another GREAT film, by the way)

Now, I’m not going to complain about “Zootopia", as it was only the push for this blog article. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry: no spoilers from me! (But you should see it! It is really good!)

Getting back to “fake news".

I’ve seen all kinds of crying over Donald Trump winning the election due to “fake news" and that places like Facebook and Twitter need to crack down on “fake news".

Part of the issue is the so-called mainstream media (MSM), and the fact that their integrity, as viewed by the general public, is quickly swirling down the drain of the commode of history. “Real" journalists are actually scared that people don’t think they are trustworthy. And I agree with them. I don’t trust them either.

Some of you will stop reading right after that last statement. I hope you don’t. Let me explain.

I don’t think that your local news at 6 is doing that bad a job. The problem I have is the “talking heads" on the MSM news outlets, especially those on cable. And I think it those outlets that are the issue.

As this is getting a bit longer than I had desired, let me get straight to the point: FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, and the like are NOT news channels. They are ENTERTAINMENT channels. They are all owned by entertainment companies. And what do entertainment companies focus on? They focus on ratings and ad revenue. Period. And that is what drives their “news" channels.

To be honest, they are not without news. Each day they give us about 15 minutes of actual news. The rest of the 23 hours and 45 minutes are made up of advertisements and OPINION shows. That’s right. When you are watching Megyn Kelly, Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, or any of those other morons, you are NOT getting news. You are getting opinion.

Or, more accurately, “fake news".

You see, the MSM is against “fake news" unless THEY are the ones delivering it. As a matter of fact, they are against ANY kind of news, unless they are the ones delivering it. And that not only goes for the cable news outlets, but also places like the New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR.

So what IS “fake news"? It is any message not preferred by those with the loudest agenda. And that message is repeated over and over and over until people BELIEVE it to be the truth.

Unless it is delivered by the MSM it is “fake news”. Even shtuff from us bloggers.

But again, I don’t claim this to be news. It is just my humble but accurate opinion.

©Emittravel 2016

Yeah, But Should the FOX Say It?

Sometimes known as the "Fourth Estate", the press has a long history of keeping the government in "check" in its role as the ears of the people. So important a role, that it is even referenced in one of the pinnacles of our constitutional rights:

"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."

For one sentence, that statement covers a lot of ground! Unfortunately, with such a sentence, there is a lot of room for interpretation. For instance: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" can be taken that Congress shall make no law that respects a religion, one that respects an establishment of religion (like a church building), or one that respects the establishment of a religion (like coming up with a new one, or making a state religion like "The Church of England"). What about the inverse? Can Congress make a law that disrespects one?

Also included is the abridgement of the freedom of speech or of the press. Abridgement means a shortened or condensed form, or a limiting of someone's rights. Cliff Notes are study tools that give a good idea of the first definition. The focus in the amendment is the second definition. We have the right to say what we want. However, we have laws against slander and libel. Slander deals with making false statements against someone. Libel is a false statement against someone that is published. We have freedom to say what we want, even if it offends someone. It's just that that statement cannot be false. You have the right to have an opinion. Heck, the name of this blog is "My Humble But Accurate Opinion". Opinions are views or judgments made, but not necessarily based on facts.

If I say, "The President of the United States dresses in drag and chases neighborhood children," that would be slander. If I published it, that would be libel. But if I say, "The President of the United States has policies that I think are detrimental to the well being of this country," I am giving an opinion. The first is punishable according to the law. The other is protected speech. As a blogger, I have the freedom to give my opinion. Hopefully that also means that I've given my opinion at least a little research background prior to giving it to my readers.

Can I see a show of hands from all of you that hate FOX News? Okay, how about those of you that hate MSNBC? I'm sure you all have your reasons, and I probably will agree with you on them. Here's my point: why are these types of "journalists", members of the "press", allowed to make such outrageous, may I even go far as to call them slanderous, statements and hide under the umbrella of "freedom of the press"?

As I stated above, the press was designed to keep the government in check. It has a responsibility to keep the government honest by holding them accountable to the people (you know, their constituents - a.k.a. "the voters"). But there is a major problem when the press stops reporting the news and just gives us their opinions PORTRAYED as news. There is a major problem when the press buries a story it doesn't like because it goes against their opinions or beliefs as to how the government should be doing things. There is also a major problem when the press reports things that in turn can cause detriment to our armed forces. You know: acts of treason.

What is the difference between a blogger and a journalist when both are simply giving opinions? Do bloggers fall under the same protections of the freedom of the press?

But is it the fault of the press? With the news networks being all owned by the entertainment industry, and ratings and advertising dollars the focus, is it any wonder that they act like they do?

Many are the solutions to fix this. Here's one that I think will help: change the name of the news organizations and make sure they are clear on when they are giving facts versus their opinions.

Change "FOX News" to "FOX News and Opinion".

© Emittravel 2014

Stuff My Brain Says #52

You have to understand, the media can't help but give their opinions. 9/11 has changed news in a profound way. Gone are the days of morning, 6 pm and 11 pm news broadcasts. Now you have 24-hour news. Really? There are enough things happening to provide 24-hour news? Of course not. And the repetition would be mind numbing. So, they speculate, postulate, and opinionate. There are discussions with "experts" - usually via a lopsided panel. Human-interest stories to give you the "heart" of the matter at hand. And on and on.

Also, being owned by the entertainment industry doesn't exactly help either.

© Emittravel 2012