Monday, July 13, 2020

Fake news

A number of years ago I reserved Fountain Square for an art performance. It so happened that local Democrats wanted to have a rally that day. They asked my permission to hold the rally, and I said sure.

Something like 8 speakers each got up to give a brief speech, and the event was filmed by a local TV station. I watched the TV coverage that evening, and noted that the film crew did not film the audience. If they did, the viewing public would have seen what I saw. An audience of just one man at a table eating his lunch.

That to me was fake news. An event staged to be news, and coverage that failed to tell the whole story.

Marketers, event designers and all kinds of organizations know how to manipulate media. Media package the news in quick, digestible bites. Reporters must be seen, often blocking our view of the location and action that are the news. Reporters must reinterpret the comments of those they interview. Criminals get more airtime than individuals whose work has positive impact on the community. Coverage of the courtroom is often more coverage of the courtroom drama than of the processes of justice.

Even if news is not fake, it is staged, without context and does come with the full story. It becomes the task of the viewer then to unfake the news for themselves.


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