How ‘Fake News’ Permanently Damaged America

In the beginning, Fox “News” was nothing more than fodder for comedy writers. Then it became an irritation. Today it is responsible for a large part of the division between our nation’s people.

During Trump’s illegitimate presidency, several additional fake news networks appeared, all with the purpose of supporting the worst president in American history. Two of them are ‘Newsmax,’ and OAN, ‘One American News.’ No one can answer this very important question: “How can the FCC continue to issue broadcast licenses to networks which spread lies and misinformation with the intention of supporting fascists who attempted to overthrow our government?”

It is an insult to our Founding Father’s dreams that Fox has been allowed to lie to the American people for 27 years. This one fake news network has harmed our nation more than anyone or anything else in history. Even the biggest liar in radio history, Rush Limbaugh, was responsible for less irreparable damage than the disgusting television network created by Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes.

However, in January, DirecTV announced that it would not renew its contract with OAN. After numerous complaints, most related to its support of “the Big Lie” Trump continues to spew about the 2020 election, they decided that it was the right thing to do. Last month Verizon took the same action.

We know that Fox’ Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham lost dozens of sponsors for their fallacious allegations. The primary goal of Murdoch and Ailes was to increase advertising revenue by any means. Could this be the final blow to the original fake news network?

What is “fake news?”  Fake news is not the news you disagree with, according to David M. J. Lazer:

Fake news is fabricated information that mimics news media content in form but not in organizational process or intent. Fake-news outlets, in turn, lack the news media’s editorial norms and processes for ensuring the accuracy and credibility of information. Fake news overlaps with other information disorders, such as misinformation (false or misleading information) and disinformation (false information that is purposely spread to deceive people).

Trump nauseatingly and repeatedly called every legitimate news agency “fake news” for four years while spending hours each day watching Fox. Nothing frightens criminals and traitors more than the truth. Truth has always been evil’s greatest enemy.

Our government hides the truth from the American people. By allowing these divisive and fake news networks to exist, they are redirecting facts the American people have a right to know. How corrupt is Washington?

Recently we learned that the one branch of our government that was intended to be apolitical had been corrupted beyond our imagination. The Supreme Court is composed of six justices who are biased and serve the Republican Party.

There is no greater lie than a ‘half-truth.’ The weak-minded and uninformed will believe anything if the story contains even a small amount of the truth. This is the method used by Fox, Newsmax, OAN, and others.

It has been said many times that ‘America is not easy,’ and therefore being an American citizen is difficult. Social media has added additional information, some true, but most of it false or conjecture. It requires a lot of effort to learn the truth.

I have always promised that whenever I write, “the truth lives here,” and I keep that promise.

Finally, please vote, and vote wisely. Ignore political parties and cast your ballots for the most qualified candidate whose position on the issues is most closely aligned with your own.

Written by James Turnage, Novelist

Sources:

Cornell University: Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Learning to Critically Evaluate Media Sources: What Is Fake News?
The Hill: OAN’s troubles spark questions for conservative cable news; by Dominick Mastrangelo

Featured and Top Image by Nijwam Swargiary Courtesy of Unsplash – Creative Commons License
Inset Image by Noah Pederson Courtesy of Unsplash – Creative Commons License