It does indeed matter if a story was true or false. People who complain about "disinformation" or its right wing equivalent, "fake news," ought to recognize that a culture that loses its ability or willingness to distinguish confirmation bias from reality is inviting political dysfunction.
It does indeed matter if a story was true or false. People who complain about "disinformation" or its right wing equivalent, "fake news," ought to recognize that a culture that loses its ability or willingness to distinguish confirmation bias from reality is inviting political dysfunction.
I remember attending a literary reading in which the speaker claimed that the story she'd concocted about an atrocity was "true" regardless whether it actually happened. That may be sufficient for poets or Hollywood, but it is highly inadequate for informed public policy discourse.
Needless to say, journalistic credibility depends upon the faithful reporting of facts. The nihilistic alternative ("nothing matters") comes right out of the autocrat's playbook.
It does indeed matter if a story was true or false. People who complain about "disinformation" or its right wing equivalent, "fake news," ought to recognize that a culture that loses its ability or willingness to distinguish confirmation bias from reality is inviting political dysfunction.
I remember attending a literary reading in which the speaker claimed that the story she'd concocted about an atrocity was "true" regardless whether it actually happened. That may be sufficient for poets or Hollywood, but it is highly inadequate for informed public policy discourse.
Needless to say, journalistic credibility depends upon the faithful reporting of facts. The nihilistic alternative ("nothing matters") comes right out of the autocrat's playbook.
However, she declared that the story was probably false without having all the facts, and made judgments based on her presumptions.