On Fake News, Clickbait & Hoaxes: Verified by Snopes to be True

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > On Fake News, Clickbait & Hoaxes: Verified by Snopes to be True

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

terrorist ambulance posted:

Hunter S Thompson said in his time that traditional media had a blind spot to a crook like Nixon. Trump glided through that same blind spot albeit in a different way. While they were freaking out about pussy grabbing or whatever, their breathless reporting about every minute stupid thing the orange frog did while talking endlessly about emails and horse race enabled him while obscuring that they were doing so

Speaking of "GRAB HER BY THE PUSSY" (i can't wait for the kids who had to live through that media poo poo storm to start grabbing each other genitals, just for the parental outrage), am i the only one who think the left wing media used it wrongly (well, more like "not optimally", bluntly maybe) spinning it to outrage their feminist female base only as a sexual aggression, when it would have be more efficient to insist on the fact it was the genitals of a MARRIED WOMEN gently caress THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE to have more effect on the part of the electorate who didn't already sold their soul to them. I think the liberal media big problem is not to realize that at this point both political side literally could have their own separate languages and that's kinda the problem: you do not try to preach outside your little church.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2016 12:27

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 02:31

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

DC Murderverse posted:

This is disgusting generally and everyone who keeps on insisting that "pizza gate" is a thing should be kicked off the internet, but there's an extra level of surreality that comes because the name of the pizza place is "comet ping pong". such a weird name.

The Pizzagate is your classical "all lefties are pedophiles, he is a picture i wrote on a pizzabox to prove it to you" right-wing gutter tabloid propaganda (and it manage to make me angry by bringing indestructible tabloid UK meme "involve Madeleine McCann". At this point just accuse Hillary of raping batboy while shooting JFK, it would be more creative jesus) but yeah the effort to censor it off the internet in the name of fighting against FAKE NEWS(it's more of an admission classical media are unable to fight lovely conspiracy theories than anything else), is just going to allow it to spread with an aura of "so true, it's getting censored", it doesn't deserve.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Dec 5, 2016

# ¿ Dec 5, 2016 15:34

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

sweart gliwere posted:

Not that reasserting reality is helped when you've got an incoming Trump admin choice's son spreading #pizzagate poo poo. He really struck gold with the Flynn pick.

Don"t you like when it's the most absurd stupid nonsensical poo poo thrown at the wall that manage to stay stuck because "FAKE NEWS must be fought"?

# ¿ Dec 5, 2016 15:58

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

Silver2195 posted:

Part of the problem is the difficulty of proving a negative. You can debunk some of the individual pieces of "evidence" being thrown around, but you can't affirmatively show that there's no child molestation going on at Comet Ping Pong. All you can do is point out that the evidence is super flimsy, and that's not enough for someone who's ideologically/emotionally motivated to believe it.

Yeah you can either ignore it or mock it. It's the current "Ted Cruz is the zodiac killer".

# ¿ Dec 5, 2016 16:27

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

Silver2195 posted:

To be fair, there's actual specific evidence against that one, namely that the murders began before Cruz was born. Also, almost everyone who claims Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer is joking, while the Pizzagate people are mostly serious.

Yeah so "Cruz's father killed JFK" that's what you are saying, right? :laugh:

Still it's dumb poo poo thrown toward the opposition to make them waste time denying it. Because denying something repeatedly when you are a politician spread the fake news too.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Dec 5, 2016

# ¿ Dec 5, 2016 16:33

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

^^^^i have a hard time reading the original PROOF BY VAGUE TERMS IN THE EMAILS.jpg and not consider it as insane as accusing a man of being a serial killer who murderer people before he was even born. But that's mostly because of the whole part were it goes full UK tabloid "OUR MADDY" drive me to insane level of hilarity. Sorry you find one more credible than the other. Both are poo poo, and target people dumb enough to believe them. The fact one can be taken as joke by most people and the other not, is just a slight difference in the number of idiots who can believe it.

rkajdi posted:

This is simply an extension of the same stuff that's been done with abortion clinics in the past.

Yeah or what was done in the last few decade of tabloid press or when the mainstream media covered the aluminum tubes in Iraq accusation poo poo or any US sponsored war.

rkajdi posted:

When people start physically attacking Ted Cruz for being the Zodiac Killer, you might have a point. These lies are specifically set up to punish someone for standard political involvement, with the punishment being death. I'd say that's as far from the Zodiac Killer joke as you can get.

If it happens then Ted Cruz should just publicly admit being the zodiac killer live on tv and said the victims' corpses were buried in the wall by his accomplice Donald in his penthouse at Trump Tower.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Dec 5, 2016

# ¿ Dec 5, 2016 17:00

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

rkajdi posted:

Isn't that a large part of the issue though? It an entirely different thing when something shows up for crazy tinfoil hat conspiracists who also take pride in being armed. I get the impression you are coming from the UK where this kind of thing isn't constantly threatened by half of the rural people. It's especially damning since it's very obvious what's going on, but the left just seems to mumble something about rights while not even trying to make anyone answer for it.

No it's not just because i am European, Jo Cox was shoot to death, you do not have the monopoly on gun violence USA. No, i think the issue is not limited to really dumb people going to a pizzeria with shotgun because of a crazy joke conspiracy on the Internet. Feed people poo poo, you get more poo poo out of people. And i just don't think the fake news problem is limited to the far right. I remember that at the start of the campaign for nearly one week of the Guardian (SERIOUS NEWS) published full of opinion pages on how TRUMP is Hitler TRUMP is Hitler, TRUMP is literally Hitler, literally everyday on their online front page. I remember thinking "some loving idiot will think he doesn't need a time machine to kill Hitler and then Jesus it will be a shitshow".
Then strangely they stopped doing it.
I think it stopped just after a British man was arrested after trying to steal a cop gun during a Trump thing in Vegas.
Fake news is just a new name for Click-bait which is basically just yellow journalism which is standard behavior in mainstream journalism since Hearst vs Pullizer. Both sides are full of clueless (or worse) people ready to use the dumbest most dangerous propaganda point because the end (making money, "helping" your political side) justify the mean(lying to a public that include dumb/emotive armed people, having an inflammatory discourse). The "left" is mumbling because the people mumbling are journalists and know that they can't do anything without killing their profession, just try to blame the crazy on the other side, not the whole industry.
I also do not have an optimistic view on what would happen after you censor the info sources of dumb people armed with shotguns. I hate feeling like i will see the death of democracy in my lifetime.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Dec 7, 2016

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 12:06

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

e: jesus double post.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 12:19 on Dec 7, 2016

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 12:09

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

quote:

Without any real proof, you're starting to sound like a truther. Bring real proof, not some Glen Beck wall of coincidences.

Lol i am french, do you want me to tell you how the so called "leftwing" media covered the opposition of my country against the US invasion of iraq in the UN in 2002? Pretty pretty weakly when they weren't straight up for the Bush&Blair propaganda machine. And i am not talking about fox news. As long as it server their corporate masters' interests the US&Uk press corp is just one giant machine to sell believable lies for profit. Them suddenly trying to fight "fake news" because one half it is in bed with a white nationalist is so loving ridiculous, sorry. But feel free to call me an insane man who do not believe that Obama was born in Hawai or believe that 911 was some kind of conspiracy. Because i am not in the crazy conspiracy camp on those subject. And it would be nice if the "Putin hacked the us election" guys would try to do the same. Because it's loving hard not to see the same crazy behavior on both side of the US political&journalistic spectrum when you all really rely on crazy conspiracy theories the second you lose. Same poo poo, just a (D) instead of a (R) this time.

quote:

Obviously, the right solution is doing nothing about slander against a private citizen like pizzagate.

Well the reason the alt right is spreading that insane conspiracy so well is because they are claiming it's being censored . The main problem is that there is no loving coherent message against said conspiracy (except "maybe we should do something"), just people panicking around trying to do something, anything really to stop the rival message. And it's kinda helping it.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Dec 7, 2016

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 16:42

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

rkajdi posted:

So your position is that papers put out pro-war agitprop they can't fight back against a white nationalist now? That's insane. You oppose white nationalists with every drat tool you have every drat time, because we know what happens when they get real power. The whole "press is out to sell us lies, man" is not an acceptable position for a thinking adult to have. There is no objective position on issues, but this solipsistic crap is just a way to punt and not bother even trying to figure out what actually is going on.

No my point is that "the proud self-declared defenders of democracy(who imposed it with firearms in Iraq) are now declaring themselves as fighting against nazism in their own country (who main point behind the racial pro-german supremacy was the death of democracy and consolidating power for "1000 year") and want to do it by using mass censorship on non-casher opinions". Strangely as noble as the anti-trump fight appeal to me, the methods suggested here seems insanely short sighted and aimed to kill the democratic discourse in the US. I do not think fighting fire by burning your own loving arm is wise or that it aims at anything but turning the US in plutocracy with chinese like media. And i think that while constantly doing my best to ignore the pathetic appeal of superior morality despite multiple pass personal experiences of their insanely hypocritical discourses.But hey if you want to start another us civil war be my guess.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Dec 7, 2016

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 17:45

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

Tim Raines IRL posted:

I realize that's a bit vitriolic, but this whole meme strikes me as media navel gazing, rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic without paying attention to the hull breach. "Fake news" is a reflection of the failure of traditional journalism, not the reason for it.

No, they kinda need the vitriol. They were delusional before the defeat and that's why the democrats lost, why let them be the same after if you want to win again.

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Dec 7, 2016

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 18:10

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

boner confessor posted:

pretty much. it's the same as people claiming heavy metal was satanist back in the 80's. black sabbath's bassist was a devout christian, all the sabbath songs about satan very clearly talk about him in either a negative or vaguely unsettling neutral context, but that still didn't stop rumors about ozzy biting the head off a bat on stage. when judas priest was accused of using backwards messages to tell children to kill themselves for the devil, their producer said "if that technology existed i'd tell them to buy two copies of our records". people get creeped out if they lack the cultural context to understand an art and that's on them, not on the artist

Speaking of 80s morale panic that pizza-gate poo poo remind me the McMartin preschool trial and the associated Satanist panics. Considering how it ended (nowhere), you would think bringing up those past events as an example to help disprove it would be the answer but no. It's literally build in the same paranoid mold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R21tWs-qCw

Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Dec 7, 2016

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 18:29

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 02:31

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

Plinkey posted:

Interview with the dude that went to investigate comet ping pong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/us/edgar-welch-comet-pizza-fake-news.html

"I regret how i handle the situation!" Well, no poo poo. At least someone learned something.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2016 13:00

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