Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Fact from Fiction or Opinion

I think it is going to be vital that we become fact checkers in the coming days. Bill Maher has said "Hillary is like a black person driving in a white neighborhood. The Republican police keep pulling her over and having to let her go." I fear there may come a time when they don't let her go.

My opinion is this, Republicans will work hard at impeaching Hillary. The Clintons have been around a long time and done a lot of good but I fear over time they've decided it's all right for them to cut corners because look at the good they have done, even maybe feel they're entitled to cut some corners and do some things that aren't quite right in the strictest sense. After all, they're the Clintons. They always seem to live right on the edge, attract sleazy people, and get their public lives tangled with their private lives. There, I said it, shoot me if you want, and yes I did vote for Hillary Clinton.

I don't always enjoy following the workings of government but I think it's vital that we be voices of fact during the next four years. There will for sure be too much fiction. How do you distinguish fact from fiction or opinion, that is the question? I didn't have much trouble finding the sources I wanted to follow for the election but I'm struggling with my go to sources once the election is over.

I have a friend who does not consider any topic worthy of her time until she's see it in print. She's hanging on to her newspaper for dear life. I seldom read a newspaper or watch TV so that doesn't work for me.

Once a topic catches my eye I try to read about it from at least three sources. Some topics require research and more reading than others.

I usually give Huffington Post a glance first thing in the morning. I know, I know, it's supposed to be a liberal gossip rag. Seems to me it's improving but, nevertheless, it's the quickest way to find the
news topic of the day. I then turn to Twitter. I don't personally Tweet but I follow a lot of political and government people, as well as journalists. I follow some news on Facebook I often find good links on follow and read on Twitter.  I listen to a few, very few, podcasts. I get links through email to the opinion pages for The New York Times and Washington Post. I try to read left, right and the middle.

I'd be interested in knowing how you keep up with the news, how you go about establishing fact from fiction or opinion.

17 comments:

  1. I do read a local paper. I don't watch TV. I follow news sources on twitter. Fact from fiction? It's a huge challenge.

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    1. It's a challenge to sort the good from the bad. I found it much easier when we could just turn on the evening news and Walter Cronkite told us what to believe.

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  2. I like what Bill Maher said. It's true! The problem you can take a horse to water, but you can't make them drink aka Trump has so poisoned people against the media that too many of his fans don't trust any of the fact checking sites. (He's setting himself up for his Trump Network.) I have bookmarked five fact checking sites and depend on them, when something doesn't seem right.

    As for how I get my news, I see so many sources it isn't funny...all day, all the major networks plus internet sights like Huff Post, the Official White House Briefings, PoliticusUSA and The Hill. I also read posted articles on the site where I go to debate politics and those include stuff from FOX, Alt-Right, Secessionists and conspiracy sites. I get the Sunday paper but mostly ready the headlines because I've already seen the stories. I have a twitter account but I really don't get how you follow the news there. I need a lesson, I guess.

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    1. You mentioned a couple of sites I need to check out. You are right, many people don't believe facts when they see them. That is very scary to me. How are we to deal with that?

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  3. I listen to national and local news on the radio, I watch local and national news on NBC, I look at the newspaper daily, read headlines and some articles, and editorials. I read the opinion page on the New York times via email. I get many news links from Facebook, of all persuasions. I fact check using PolitiFact and Snopes.

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    1. I believe you are well covered, a well informed voter.

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  4. Frankly, it's all just too damned stressful. I prefer to just look at big picture, not hunt for details. I am refusing to be baited into any more so-called discussions that end up heated debates way too quickly. No one can change anyone's mind. Since I can't control it, and can't stand the stress, I'm living on the fringe of news as much as I can.

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    1. Yes, I know the feeling. I have periods when I have to crawl under a rock for a while and let the world carry on without me.

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  5. I like Huffpo, the Washington Post and the NY Times (all online). I'm not a big TV watcher, but I follow the political shows on MSNBC. I enjoy listening to Chuck Todd, Steve Korkacki, Chris Mathews, and Joy Reid. I also am impressed with the young reporters from MSNBC following the campaigns across the country. I think they do a good job. When I am in the car, I like NPR.

    Once in a while I'll read Fox news online, just to see what the "other side" is saying. As far as fact checking, it can be tricky. MSNBC will acknowledge when something has been misrepresented, and that keeps me coming back to them for my political news.

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    1. I'm sitting here with the TV control this morning determined to write down the times of some news programs.

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  6. I am back in watching news mode. I watch News Hour on PBS and I watch on MSNBC. I check out Fox on rare occasions but I much prefer Comedy Central. If i really want the Fox line, I know which of my friends and neighbors will give it to me. I have a liberal bias, yes. That's the way I was raised and it is the way I will die.

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    1. For once in my life I'm surrounded by people who think like I do politically. It's nice. In Texas I was swimming upstream against both religion and politics.

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  7. I always check out the Huffington Post too. And yes, I really feel Hillary is the only choice this time around. She's not perfect, but we haven't gotten perfect every time either. We just have to hope for the best, because frankly Trump is the worst.

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    1. We just have to pay close attention to facts. Much of the talk about Hillary is not based on fact. Hillary's need to be secretive gets her in trouble when her 'sin' is not that bad. It appears worse because she makes it appear bad. Own up Hillary.

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  8. I want Hillary to win so badly that I can taste it. I don't dare assume she will, though, because the minute I assume something, I'm usually proven wrong. If she does win, though, I dread to see what the Republicans will do to her. They've had a field day with the Obamas, and it's been frustrating and aggravating and tiresome. They'll treat Hillary even worse, I fear. She's been investigated to the nth degree, with little or nothing of real magnitude being unearthed. I wish that time had been spent investigating Trump. He's an ass. I read several news sources each day: Huffington Post, Washington Post, my own area's newspaper, various internet sites. I'm tired.

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    1. We are all very tired. I was not pleased Hillary was the Democrats' candidate. Now I can say I'm not at all sure a man could have handled Donald Trump and I don't know another woman who could. It was such fun watching the dynamics between those two. He obviously did not know what to do with her.

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  9. I view local & nat'l news, sometimes World news with BBC, Germany, France; PBS NewsHour, Charlie Rose Show, All News Radio, CNN App, Add'l source exchanges with friend, various other web sites, select blogs; fact ckers as needed.

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