Re:Facebook is 1-2% responsible for the election?
by DrScump on Tuesday November 15, 2016 @10:08PM
(#12964247)
That Snopes entry is a perfect example of promoting a bias without specifically lying:
"The clip has since been shared by white supremacist publication The Daily Stormer..."
Is that relevant to the beating? No. Is that relevant to the truth or falsity of what preceded the beating? No. It is simply there to inflame one side using "guilt by association". A similar example was that an endorsement of Trump by some racist organization was widely reported, even though nothing else they had ever said or (even allegedly) done had been considered newsworthy to that point. Had Trump sought such an endorsement, that would be relevant.
Ultimately, selective reporting can be just as powerful as false reporting... and there is far, far more false reporting than most realize (especially misreporting on legislation). People need to remember that media have no legal obligation to report truth (let alone the whole truth) and, unless they libel or slander a specific entity, suffer no consequences for stating flat lies. For-profit media's primary motivation is maximizing profit, and accuracy often does not maximize return or profit, especially in the short term.
"The clip has since been shared by white supremacist publication The Daily Stormer..."
Is that relevant to the beating? No. Is that relevant to the truth or falsity of what preceded the beating? No. It is simply there to inflame one side using "guilt by association". A similar example was that an endorsement of Trump by some racist organization was widely reported, even though nothing else they had ever said or (even allegedly) done had been considered newsworthy to that point. Had Trump sought such an endorsement, that would be relevant.
Ultimately, selective reporting can be just as powerful as false reporting... and there is far, far more false reporting than most realize (especially misreporting on legislation). People need to remember that media have no legal obligation to report truth (let alone the whole truth) and, unless they libel or slander a specific entity, suffer no consequences for stating flat lies. For-profit media's primary motivation is maximizing profit, and accuracy often does not maximize return or profit, especially in the short term.