Tag: fake news

People Speak of Fake News

· Leave a comment ·

 

People speak of fake news. Certain sources do indicate a far different and accurate story behind that of the young girl’s plight in the moment. There is also the reality of everyone’s reminder of the Obama camps and photos of 2014 – similar to today’s. The reality is behind every ‘story’ there is added research necessary to find the truth.

 

We teach our student in the classroom to back up sources in order to legitimize their own research on a topic. A student will sometime question the reasoning. I will often tell a student it is not because I want to catch them plagiarizing, more because I wish they might learn how to defend their own thinking on a topic.

 

So then what might we call the end game on this ‘Time Magazine’ photoshopped cover story? The truth is both photos did occur. Let’s call it poetic justice.

 

In one light a little girl is hysterical perhaps not for the reasons the editors would like the reader to believe; however I would believe her affect represents the many faces of children we don’t see in photo ops.

 

In another light we see a smug expression on the face of the President of the United States looking down on something he shows disdain toward. (Personally I think a bad putt that when the camera is off he will tap in with his foot) The fact is he is looking detached and disconnected about something.

 

So let’s look at the picture for what it really is, a horrific artistic rendering of an American society at odds with itself and unable to step within one another’s comfort zone to offer love and support.

 

What is more vital than pointing out the inauthentic nature of the picture is to use this as an authentic learning moment and begin to do what is right for our people and the country. In the words of Spike Lee, let’s ‘Do The Right Thing.’

–

Photo – Time Magazine

I’m Struggling to be OK, and other “Trump is my President” Anxieties

· Leave a comment ·

Last night I listened to 45 basically implode or become ‘unhinged’ as most news agencies reported, except for one I suppose. I walked into my home and my wife was exasperated with his demonstrative ranting at his Arizona campaign rally. Then I listened more as he defended all of his bigotry and ‘fake news’ accusations, to a rousing crowd of visible support. It felt just any campaign rally we witnessed in the year leading up to his election.

Here’s my problem. Today, I listened to Trump give a very sobering and prompter lead speech to the National Convention of the American Legion in Reno, Nevada. His demeanor and focus was a complete contrast to last night’s ranting. He didn’t comment on Charlottesville, there was no braggadocio of the ‘lack of protesters’ outside, he stayed on point, and received mild applause for key statements, that no one could ever disagree with. I was disappointed because I wanted him to go off the rails with his speech, so that he continued to support the critics accusation that he is not fit to hold office. But he didn’t, he stayed on topic, and finished with gracious applause. He was the President a lot of America has been waiting to see.

Trump has done this a couple of times, most recently his proclamations of strategy to deal with Afghanistan earlier in the week – sober and television prompter driven, which gave a calculated impression of steady leadership. But, 24 hours he lost it all in Arizona, and then less than 24 hours later, he returned to the television prompter POTUS.

Where does that leave us as concerned Americans about this man’s leadership. If we were to listen to CNN, we would come away much focus on his unraveling. Then if we listened to FOX news, we would probably hear accolades. So, is the real issue the President, or is it something else?

I sat with a friend today, and spoke of the ills of social media. I cannot get away from the feeling that CNN really wants this guy’s head on a platter (no honorable connection to Kathy Griffith) and that is the network I gravitate toward because they seemingly are focused on good news reporting. But today, they spent a couple of minutes talking about the sobering speech to the veterans, and then the majority of their broadcast spoke to yesterday’s news – or in other words, the blatancy of Donald Trump tendency to dramatically look like an idiot in a position of leadership.

I have to say today, I’m nervous; however there is no news agency helping to ease my anxiety.