I have been hearing about fake news for a while now. I think many of us have. It has become the charge by some that certain information about current events should be discounted. Or it is a derogatory statement describing some of the news, usually the news that someone does not agree with, and does not believe or want to believe has validity.
In some of my college and high school courses, I remember strict rules for gathering information. Research. In order to call something a fact, I had to find and cite three independent, respected sources of information that acknowledged the incident I wanted to note as a fact. For example, if I wanted to state that it is a fact that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, I must find three separate, independent, and reliable sources that all note that Jefferson was the author. Quickly researching this, I find three separate sources, www.constitution.laws, www.americanlibrary.gov, and www.constitutionfacts.com, with information on the author of the Declaration. There could be a debate whether these are reliable sources or not. I believe they pass that test. Let’s assume for the sake of argument they do. According to my research, all sources name Jefferson as the main author, but note that he was part of a committee whose members also contributed. They are John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
So what is my point? When I hear the charge of fake news, I think of that requirement to find three separate, reliable sources to confirm whether an item of information is fake or fact. What if we all used this tactic? Instead of assuming that something we read or hear is true, or false, we step back, acknowledge that this information is offered as fact or fake, and then do some work. We look for other sources, not connected in anyway to the first source and considered reliable, to collaborate this information. So, I could not use all left-leaning news sources, or all right-leaning news sources to confirm the offered information as true or not.
This is not nearly as satisfying as pouncing on something juicy that we want to believe or disparage, and it requires work, as I have acknowledged. Perhaps that is part of the problem. It is so hard to be objective today. The pace of incoming information is fast, and people’s feelings are high. However, stepping back and being willing to do the work could be an antidote to our divisiveness, and diminish the charges of fake news.