(07-16-2023, 04:16 PM)NYC4jags Wrote:

(07-16-2023, 09:57 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: And like the media, your opinion is conveniently devoid of relevant fact. You're attempting to justify institutionalized misinformation. Remember when Trump said COVID originated in a Chinese lab and he was called a racist by the entire leftist MSM? Now what are they saying? Gosh, is it any coincidence the left and the right view the media as being untrustworthy? 

A few things I want to add here.

"The entire leftist MSM" did not leap from "there is no evidence supporting the president's claim" to "he's racist for saying that."
The Whoopi Goldberg and Rachel Maddow types did, for sure. But there was plenty of responsible reporting that merely called his claim unsubstantiated, because it was. 

I clearly recall several network evening news broadcasts using language like "there are dozens of Chinese labs that study this type of virus and they have a history of accidental leaks, but there is no evidence to support that being the case at this time."  

Now - the issue that arises from all of this is that you already have around 40 million Trump cultists out there who are ready to eschew all basic truth and logical reasoning to blindly accept whatever manure he broadcasts as alternate fact. 
And then you've got millions more who may not belong to that particular church, but they are damn sure a lot more receptive to conspiracy theory than they once were and increasingly untrusting of the media. Hard to fault them. 

You add this together with the current digital age easily allowing the largest onslaught of propaganda ever known to a global populace  - and voters have real, serious work to do in order to feel certain they have culled through the disinformation and arrived upon fact. 

It is a major problem and you and I both know there are folks left, right and center falling prey to all kinds of falsity. 

Now despite my snarky ribbing of L2L in another thread about the right currently needing to resort to conspiracy theories and attempting to erode the integrity of "facts and truths" -- I do recognize that we have a major information problem on our hands. 

Unfortunately - Trump's campaign and presidency spent so much time attacking journalists and their craft that the already near-impossible path back to some semblance of journalistic integrity faces yet another hurdle and a partisan one at that. Making the waters even murkier. 

It really sucks - but the future of American politics looks like it will be one overflowing with disinformation for a long time to come. Voters will be rolling the dice that they are believing the most accurate information.

The Wuhan lab was always suspect. Remember the young Chinese scientist who posted a video of himself sick with the virus, before the pandemic really kicked in, and issuing a warning? He subsequently died, whether from the virus or the CCP we’ll never know. The lab in Wuhan, which was built with U.S. assistance, is a level four lab and was known for lax procedures. 

My assertion the entire MSM labeled Trump as racist for citing the lab was overblown, but it’s tempered by the undercurrent of the media trope that race was a factor in his decisions. To wit: his attempt to stop air traffic from China when it was clear it was the source of the virus and Chinese leaders knew it as well. It was immediately tagged with the race card.

Regardless, I agree the disinformation and misinformation is flowing like a raging river from the left and right. Journalism isn’t the respected profession it once was because so many are now presenting opinion and selective facts as the whole story. It doesn’t help when people make excuses for it.

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