Posted on 02/23/2017 10:56:39 AM PST by Kaslin
Media approval ratings are at an all time low and the public is routinely confronted by what ultimately turns out to be ‘faux’ news. But this is not a surprise because we have been aware of this for some time. In fact, it all started with Watergate. Although I was in London in 1972 and never had a chance to vote against Richard Nixon, the Watergate scandal was all over the press in Europe so I didn’t miss a bit of the sordid details. For the first time ever, however, a major news story made a big deal of the reporters behind it. The media became the star and even had a major film applauding their work sinking Nixon. All the President’s Men was a film celebrating the two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who then became millionaire authors.
What worried me then about Watergate was the fact that the new powerful media was demanding that all government secrets should be revealed to the public. I felt this was unwise, and I still do. Since we were still in the middle of the war in Vietnam, such disclosures would be available to our enemy. We, the people, do not really want to know everything about the government as long as they are looking out for our security.
As far back as 2003, I was warning journalists that they had to get their integrity back or the Fourth Estate was in big trouble. I wrote:
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Here’s one tip:
If it reports on an opinion poll, it is NOT news.
Here’s another tip:
If the sources are unnamed it’s likely #FAKENEWS.
It’s called critical thinking and simply being able to distinguish what purported as fact vs what is opinion is a good start.
And look at those adjectives warily.
I’m fed up with hearing about Richard Nixon and Watergate.
Yes it was a big deal back in 1974 and we were upset because we expected more from our president in those days.
But after eight years of the Clintons’ lies, criminal acts, and trashy behavior, and eight years of the Michelle Obama’s grifting and Barack Obama’s treason, perfidy and criminal dictatorship, the transgressions of Richard Nixon are reduced to the magnitude of him getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Barack Obama broke more laws and abused the power of the presidency more every day than Nixon did in his entire 5½ years in office.
The magnitude of Nixon’s crimes compared to Obama’s are about like a pimple compared to the Rocky Mountains.
If it includes the phrase "some say" the story is false.
If you can’t go back to the original sources and view it for yourself in its uncut form, it at least can’t be proved that it’s not fake news.
And if it can’t pass the scrutiny and vetting by Freepers, it’s definitely fake news.....
If the media does not report it, it’s real news.
Dead in Watergate: 0
Dead in Benghazi: 4
Excellent point
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