Actual fake news is literally destroying America in my opinion

[scoobysnack]

Recently, there was an article published by the Daily Caller about how my University is paying people to "spy" on students and to report them if they are talking anything that isn't "Liberal". Of course this was spun from this newspaper. However, I looked into this and really what the position is is a role in order to report behavior that is in line with misconduct. This sort of misconduct is stuff like sexual harassment, bullying and etc. However, the right wingers then decided to attack my Universities Facebook page by calling them communists and Hitler Youth because of this. I even asked one of these angry people who had nothing to do with my University where he heard this story from. I have been at University of Arizona for over a year and have never heard of such a thing. This guy I asked [He looked like a child molester] to provide some information on this refused to. His logic was "Why should I have to". I then explained to him that when someone makes such an idiotic statement they must be able to back it up. 

Needless to say, this moron did not have any evidence. I even googled it and the only article that came up was the Daily Caller [As i stated before].

This is so funny though. Because about a month ago there was a story about my University handing out "SJW" Manuals. These manuals apparently tell people what to do when their feelings got hurt. I personally thought this was silly. However, once again I have never heard about these. Never got any information about it from my school either. And according to the articles that were published on this, it was sent to all students. Not to mention they were apparently passing them out, but again I never once saw this! 

This is a serious issue we are having in this country. People need to realize that just because something is on the internet does not mean it's true. There is saying that if you look into the sky long enough you will see a UFO. I think it applies to this same instance, but this is more of a serious matter. Is it because they want these things to be true so the fake news gives it to them? I mean, you could google the following things: "Obama is a Muslim", or "Hillary is killing people". And you will find them! 

I really never understood why some people in the world despise America so much, and after this last election cycle I completely understand those feelings now. Americans are seriously idiots.

Could you give links to the articles so I can read them? I'm curious to see what they had to say.

[Zenith]

Fox News suffers from the same problem that a lot of news media does, namely that the line between reporting news and voicing opinions is blurred.

I think that's both cheapest and profitable from the business perspective. It's easy to let someone talk nonsense about what is going on in the country rather than go and investigate every tiny detail, explain the things as they happened, nothing more and nothing less, and then get poor rating because it was not "exciting" news.

[chimp3]

Propaganda is not new. People with agendas manipulate the media. Gullible people believe them. There are more gullible people than there are media manipulators. The gullible fools are the problem. Doubt is a virtue.

[scoobysnack]

I'd still like to read the news stories that generated this post if anyone knows which ones they are.

The media really creates a narrative, and focuses on what they want you to know, which is why it's more important to learn the stories they are not telling you. Those are the interesting ones. Problem is most people don't have time to go searching out alternative news and put their trust in corporations to bring them what they learn. There are a lot of true stories out there that get labeled fake news just because it's not from a major corporation. Always look at who is behind various news organizations.

Again it always comes down to a narrative they construct. There could be two stories that are completely true, but if one doesn't fit the narrative they are pushing they will only focus on one. It's one reason a lot of the rapes by migrants are not being reported, and instead they are focusing the stories of people getting deported or other things. They don't want people to focus on certain things. It's called perception management to create public opinions and engineer consent. He was basically the inventor of public relations.

Everyone should read the book propaganda by Edward Bernays from 1923

http://www.whale.to/b/bernays.pdf

CHAPTER I
ORGANIZING CHAOS
THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the
organized habits and opinions of the masses is an
important element in democratic society. Those who
manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute
an invisible government which is the true ruling
power of our country.
We are governed, our minds are molded, our
tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men
we have never heard of. This is a logical result of
the way in which our democratic society is organized.
Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in
this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly
functioning society.
Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware
of the identity of their fellow members in the
inner cabinet.

---

Recently, there was an article published by the Daily Caller about how my University is paying people to "spy" on students and to report them if they are talking anything that isn't "Liberal". Of course this was spun from this newspaper. However, I looked into this and really what the position is is a role in order to report behavior that is in line with misconduct. This sort of misconduct is stuff like sexual harassment, bullying and etc. However, the right wingers then decided to attack my Universities Facebook page by calling them communists and Hitler Youth because of this. I even asked one of these angry people who had nothing to do with my University where he heard this story from. I have been at University of Arizona for over a year and have never heard of such a thing. This guy I asked [He looked like a child molester] to provide some information on this refused to. His logic was "Why should I have to". I then explained to him that when someone makes such an idiotic statement they must be able to back it up. 

Needless to say, this moron did not have any evidence. I even googled it and the only article that came up was the Daily Caller [As i stated before].

This is so funny though. Because about a month ago there was a story about my University handing out "SJW" Manuals. These manuals apparently tell people what to do when their feelings got hurt. I personally thought this was silly. However, once again I have never heard about these. Never got any information about it from my school either. And according to the articles that were published on this, it was sent to all students. Not to mention they were apparently passing them out, but again I never once saw this! 

This is a serious issue we are having in this country. People need to realize that just because something is on the internet does not mean it's true. There is saying that if you look into the sky long enough you will see a UFO. I think it applies to this same instance, but this is more of a serious matter. Is it because they want these things to be true so the fake news gives it to them? I mean, you could google the following things: "Obama is a Muslim", or "Hillary is killing people". And you will find them! 

I really never understood why some people in the world despise America so much, and after this last election cycle I completely understand those feelings now. Americans are seriously idiots.

So is this the article you are refering to?

http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/10/univer...-of-peers/

In the article there is a link to the position they were hiring for, which as of now is under review, possibly based on the publicity of the article. Perhaps the article was true since they were hiring for a new position, but I can't read the job description anymore. Here's the link to your campus:

https://www.life.arizona.edu/jobs/student-position

As the university explains on its website, a social justice advocate (SJA) “will be responsible for instituting monthly programmatic efforts within the residence halls that focus specifically on social justice issues.”

[CapnAwesome]

Recently, there was an article published by the Daily Caller about how my University is paying people to "spy" on students and to report them if they are talking anything that isn't "Liberal". Of course this was spun from this newspaper. However, I looked into this and really what the position is is a role in order to report behavior that is in line with misconduct. This sort of misconduct is stuff like sexual harassment, bullying and etc. However, the right wingers then decided to attack my Universities Facebook page by calling them communists and Hitler Youth because of this. I even asked one of these angry people who had nothing to do with my University where he heard this story from. I have been at University of Arizona for over a year and have never heard of such a thing. This guy I asked [He looked like a child molester] to provide some information on this refused to. His logic was "Why should I have to". I then explained to him that when someone makes such an idiotic statement they must be able to back it up. 

Needless to say, this moron did not have any evidence. I even googled it and the only article that came up was the Daily Caller [As i stated before].

This is so funny though. Because about a month ago there was a story about my University handing out "SJW" Manuals. These manuals apparently tell people what to do when their feelings got hurt. I personally thought this was silly. However, once again I have never heard about these. Never got any information about it from my school either. And according to the articles that were published on this, it was sent to all students. Not to mention they were apparently passing them out, but again I never once saw this! 

This is a serious issue we are having in this country. People need to realize that just because something is on the internet does not mean it's true. There is saying that if you look into the sky long enough you will see a UFO. I think it applies to this same instance, but this is more of a serious matter. Is it because they want these things to be true so the fake news gives it to them? I mean, you could google the following things: "Obama is a Muslim", or "Hillary is killing people". And you will find them! 

I really never understood why some people in the world despise America so much, and after this last election cycle I completely understand those feelings now. Americans are seriously idiots.

If you think the problem is merely that the people who believe different things than you, or believe fake news, then you are missing the problem. Fake news comes in every political stripe. Only left wingers think that fake news is just a right wing problem. It even gets put on these forums from time to time. People want to believe bad things about those they disagree with. Conservatives believe there is a liberal slant to universities, they hear some real stories about colleges and then fake ones that are just a little more extreme. It's not stupidity, or if it is, people on these forums are subject to it to. Fake stories slip into these forums all the time, mostly about Trump and people believe them because they want to believe everything negative about Trump, so they don't look very deeply into it.

 It's a normal part of the human condition to be less skeptical of our own point of view. The cure for it is for people to stop reading stuff that supports their own point of view, and rather read stuff that refutes or argues against their point of view.

[Zenith]

 It's a normal part of the human condition to be less skeptical of our own point of view. The cure for it is for people to stop reading stuff that supports their own point of view, and rather read stuff that refutes or argues against their point of view.

I guess it makes our minds more efficient - we don't keep on reinvestigating what we have learned forever and ever - to the expense of going onward with wrong conclusions.

I believe It's difficult next to impossible for people "to stop reading stuff that supports their own point of view, and rather read stuff that refutes or argues against their point of view." A better option would be if people of different (even opposing) political views could engage in respectful discussions - i.e. not a war in which each sides tries to end up the winner while the other the looser who must accept that he's been an idiot through all this time. The situation is similar in debates between people of different religious views - they usually turn into wars of who's right and who's wrong, who's the intelligent guy and who's the retard, while each assumes that the other one is a dishonest person.

Also, honest and impartial news agency could help. When the media is polarised, I believe people tend to just listen to the ones they like most.

Anyway, it's a complicated problem. I don't think a simple trick could solve everything.

[dyresand]

That is why the EU now is trying to crack down on the internet with the US doing the same in the coming days because
people realize the media on TV is bullshit and only gives a biased one sided view on things.

[Zenith]

Everyone should read the book propaganda by Edward Bernays from 1923

http://www.whale.to/b/bernays.pdf

I would rather read a more this-century book on propaganda and manipulation than early 20th century. Really, things have evolved a lot since then, democracies have also matured, people are more educated, and there is a broader variety of news agencies. Transposing a view of the reality of early 20th century to 2017, interpreted in such a way that makes it look like the democracy of today's USA is the same propagandistic and diabolical as Hitler's propaganda is a bit off.

Now some personal views...

THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the
organized habits and opinions of the masses is an
important element in democratic society.

Not as if the dictatorial governments are doing better...

Those who
manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute
an invisible government which is the true ruling
power of our country.

Why must it be an INVISIBLE force that manipulates you? Why would we assume, here and now, that the ones who manipulate the people or who "rule the world" stay beyond public eye, I don't know, "in a secret dark fortress of doom"? Why would it be difficult to expect that the ones we see, people such as politicians, are the ones who are actually manipulating the masses? And that there are advisers, even experts in psychology of the masses, who help them do it?

We are governed, our minds are molded, our
tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men
we have never heard of.

Sounds as if we are poor, mindless, unintelligent, victims of a super-intelligent and super-diabolical power. Might have been more the case back in Stalin's days, when you couldn't expect better than to have only one news agency, which was controlled by the government, while communication and traveling were pretty feeble, so basically fact checking anything was nearly impossible. You simply had no other option than to believe what you were told.

[Cyberman]

Everyone should read the book propaganda by Edward Bernays from 1923

I'll wait for it to come out on youtube.

[Zenith]

I'll wait for it to come out on youtube.

If it didn't come on youtube in a hundred years I don't think there's a reason to wait any longer.