For sometime now, both in the U.S. and Canada there have been serious concerns about where people are getting their local, national and international news. With the advent of social media and nebulous on-line sources of news, the danger of misinformation and disinformation has risen on a number of occasions. This has especially been the case during national elections. The confirmed Russian interference in the last American elections highlighted the ability of certain actors to attempt to insert bias and misinformation into news outlets and social media.
In any democracy, the media plays an important role. In the past, journalism within mainstream media resources, be it in print, radio or television, was a key, reliable and important source of information for citizens. There was a code of conduct for journalists to research and verify their sources of information before publishing or broadcasting their findings, hopefully based on facts gathered in their investigations. I would like to think that, when I read articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the National Post and the Financial Post in Canada, etc., etc., the information has been thoroughly vetted to ensure as much accuracy and verifiable facts as possible.
Unfortunately, there are still attempts by some to plant misinformation for political gain. This appears to have been the case among President Trump’s close advisors inside the White House who believed President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign needed a desperate last ditch rescue mission. According to the New York Times, this included Arthur Schwartz, a New York public relations man close to Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, and former deputy White House counsel Stefan Passantino. They attempted to concoct a story concerning to Hunter Biden’s work in the Ukraine and the involvement of then Vice-President Joe Biden. They were hoping that mainstream media would pick up the story and go with it prior to the November election. However, following further investigative journalism, news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal wouldn’t buy it. Good for them!
While some unreliable social media sources and right-wing publications love to pursue such stories in an attempt to influence their supporters and possibly some voters, at least the mainstream news media shed light on the President’s attempt to promote “fake news” for political gain. Trump even tried to raise the unconfirmed collusion story about Hunter and Joe Biden’s involvement in the Ukraine during the final presidential debate. However, without substantive proof, the attempt was a weak and dishonest one aimed at manipulating public opinion for political gain. Hopefully, voters will acknowledge Trump’s unfortunate effort to deflect the debate from other important and real issues such as his administration’s absolute failure to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
FROLITICKS 