Fake news is a new term but it’s nothing new.
Walter Cronkite, “the most trusted man in America” as CBS marketed him, wasn’t always that trustworthy. Years after he left the anchor desk, Walter said he missed “being able to affect the outcome of the day’s events.” Hmmm? Your job, Mr. Cronkite, wasn’t to “affect outcomes” it was to report them.
How about NBC’s Brian Williams’ “conflated” war story? “Conflate?” Williams basically had himself in the role of John Wayne on the Sands of Iwo Jima!
Media has never truly been about truth. Truth lacks emotional spin. The goal of media, fake or otherwise, is to trip an emotional trigger, thereby affecting an outcome.
Comments