If disinterested journalism is to have any future, it has to be something more than just the recording of facts.
- There is no legal obligation for people talking to the media to tell the truth
- Good journalists attempt to counter the mendacity
- In the last three years legacy journalists have given up resisting
- The professional liars have won
- Newsrooms have been eviscerated because Google and Facebook took all the advertising revenue, and the spin merchants in business, government, and nonprofits have almost limitless resources
- A better adherence to 'the facts' is of course desirable, but the problem with facts is that there are so many of them is that the picture they paint is incomplete and conclusions can be hard to draw
The same is not the case with the definition of words and logic. Words can be clearly defined and, if they are not, the lack of clarity is easy to identify and report on.
- For example, in the past, "cases" referred to people who were ill, or who showed symptoms of a disease. By altering the meaning of the word authorities were able to deceive with illogic.
Another semantic fiddle
- The definition of the word vaccine has been changed from something that protects you against a disease to something that produces an immune response
The CDC’s argument about 100% effectiveness is a diversionary tactic
- They used the ad hominem tactic of attacking the person, not the argument
- Another fallacy is ad populum: the claim that because most people think something is true therefore it must be true
- Red herrings are another common deception
- Being in a position of authority is no guarantee of truthfulness
Some facts are so important that their impact is overwhelming
- The evidence that the US Department of Defence controlled the vaccine rollout because they were treating Covid as a war crime
The alternative media will continue to investigate and comment, often well, and legacy journalists cannot compete with that
- But facts, especially given the sneakiness of the increasingly absurd 'fact-checks,' are insufficient.
- By reporting on semantics and logical arguments, journalists may be able to rescue something from the ashes of their craft.
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-grim-future-of-establishment-journalism/
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