SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

We need to fight fake news with truthful journalism

Apr 3, 2017, 6:05 PM

fake news...

Newspapers. (Jon S., Flickr)

(Jon S., Flickr)

I think a lot about the current state of journalism. It seems like it is just about dead. And that’s not good thing when you consider the rise of fake news.

We must have truth tellers in our society. Can journalism be saved?

Related: Do we know what health care really is?

The Facebook “fake news” button is not the thing that is going to save it. Two of the groups that are going to approve what is or what is not fake news is the Washington Post and the Associated Press.

The Washington Post reported last week that Rex Tillerson’s aides were not to make eye contact with him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t true, which the AP pointed out. The reporter for the AP said this Tillerman story is not true and that news sites repeating the story over and over on the internet is making it difficult to address very real issues.

How is a Facebook “fake news” button going to save real information, when the Post and AP can’t even agree on what stories are real and what are not?

Journalism should be saved because we cannot live without it. We can’t be free without real information.

But journalism has to change. Reporters’ biographies should state there voting preferences. And it should be at the top of their pieces. So, if it’s a news piece, you can easily see their biases. That the kind of transparency we need.

The overall journalistic leanings of a site should be made clear. So you know who you’re dealing with. Newsrooms need to demand intellectual diversity and hire outside recruiters.

It’s key that we save journalism because we are getting bombarded with an information overload, we need to preserve the truth.

As always, please listen to the full audio clip for complete context.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

President Donald Trump speaks as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, right, and Energy Secretary Chr...

Associated Press

Iowa lawmakers to vote on raising tax incentive cap for a $15B steel plant

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers will return to the Statehouse Friday to consider expanding the ceiling on state tax incentives in an effort to secure a $15 billion steel plant project for the state. President Donald Trump announced the plant Monday alongside Iowa elected officials, heralding the project as a major economic and […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Trump tried to make an ally out of fishermen. Some have started to turn on him

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — John Evich, a commercial fisherman in Washington and Alaska, has voted for President Donald Trump three times, viewing him as someone who would fight for his industry. But these days, Evich is weary of the high cost of doing business at sea, with fuel prices rising and trade hostilities with Canada […]

2 hours ago

FILE - A natural gas meter operates Jan. 22, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)Cre...

Associated Press

Households will pay more for energy because of Trump’s policy changes, think tank says

Households in the contiguous United States will pay thousands of dollars more for energy through 2040 because of federal policy changes since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to modeling released Friday by a nonpartisan think tank. The Energy Innovation analysis found that households will pay an average of $6,500 more for energy, cumulatively […]

2 hours ago

Daniel Rosen, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, speaks during a news conference at the D...

Associated Press

Trump administration says it has no plans for ICE officers at polls. Activists are preparing, anyway

WASHINGTON (AP) — With early voting already underway, a question worrying some voters is what role — if any — immigration enforcement officers might have at polling places through Election Day. Department of Homeland Security officials say they don’t plan to send immigration enforcement officers en masse to patrol the polls and dismissed concerns that […]

2 hours ago

Demonstrators gather in response to the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan man wh...

Associated Press

Venezuelan delivery driver shot by ICE has surgery to remove bullet

AUSTIN (AP) — A Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot by a federal immigration agent in Texas had surgery Thursday to remove the bullet lodged in his back for nearly two weeks. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, had appeared in court in a wheelchair on Wednesday, wearing a sling on his arm. He remains in […]

3 hours ago

Costco (4)...

Julia Dallas

Costco sued over ‘sugar-free’ claims on Kirkland electrolyte drink mix

Costco is being sued over a “sugar-free” electrolyte drink mix that plaintiff Mason Maldonado alleged is falsely advertised.

5 hours ago

We need to fight fake news with truthful journalism