Last week, Benedict Carey of the New York Times reported on a recent study (conducted by political scientists from three universities) that provides some insight into the effect that fabricated stories from phony news sites had on the 2016 election. The findings, derived in large part from the web-browser histories of over… CONTINUE
Fake News and Fake Innocence
At a rally in Phoenix a few weeks ago, President Trump went rogue. He stopped reading his prepared remarks off the teleprompter and for 30 minutes went on a tirade, taking aim at his favorite target: journalists. The crowd, of course, loved it. But as I listened on television, I… CONTINUE
Is Erosion of Public Trust the Goal?
There’s an episode of The Office entitled “The Rumor” in which the Michael Scott character (played by Steve Carell) is frustrated with never being made privy to the latest office gossip. Always desperate for inclusion in the personal lives of others, it drives him nuts that his subordinates refrain from sharing… CONTINUE
The Biggest Source of Fake News in America Is …
Many of us – no, make that most of us – have lost faith in important American institutions — which, and forgive me for stating the obvious, is not a good thing in a free country like ours. A Gallup poll last June found that given a long list of… CONTINUE
Fake News and the Mainstream Media
Long before fake news became a hot topic, liberals in the mainstream media were practicing their own special brand of fake news. They weren’t misleading the public for malicious reasons; quite the opposite. They were simply showing off their humanity. The best examples of this fake news-for-a-good-cause go back to… CONTINUE