The year 2020 will be remembered for a lot of things - not the least of which is “fake news.” The term “spin,” referring to slanting a news story to fit a particular political ideology, has been commonly used for years, but terms like “fake news” and “false narratives” have been a more accurate way to describe the evolution of spin.
Spin was the act of directing the facts of a news story. Spin has evolved into fake news and false narratives that actually ignore the facts for the purpose of crafting a news story to support a political tribe.
On my radio talk show on WWL-AM-FM-Radio.com in New Orleans, I witness the growing tendency to ignore facts in favor of a news story that appears to be a factual representation of reality. The sad truth is that many Americans seek confirmation bias over the truth. Confirmation bias is the process of finding only the media outlets that confirm one’s bias, rather than honestly looking for the truth.
People believe what they want to believe and not what is real.
How do these fake news stories and false narratives begin? Well, there are several ways. At times, a news story is just concocted with disregard for the facts. If these stories support a particular agenda or ideology then people choose to believe they are true with no interest in fact-checking. The stories are believed to be factual and therefore spread through social media sites as the truth.
Another way fake news and false narratives develop is through the selective use of facts. Here is an example of how these stories originate.
The desired headline is: “Homicides are up in cities run by mayors who are Democrats.” This fits the narrative that Democrats are soft on crime and are to blame for crime rising.
As 2020 comes to an end statistics on the increasing murder rate have been released. In the city of New Orleans - the homicide rate is up 65%. New Orleans is led by a mayor who is a Democrat. The homicide rate in Memphis, TN increased 62% this year and Memphis has a mayor who is a Democrat. Phoenix saw homicides increase 45% and that city is run by a mayor who is a Democrat. Boston is led by a Democrat mayor and its homicide rate increased 54% this year. And the homicide rate in Madison, WI skyrocketed 400% in 2020 and Madison’s mayor is a Democrat.
It would not take long for this information to sail across social media sites and be believed as credible information proving that cities led by Democrats have experienced an increase in homicides.
But here’s the rest of the story.
In the city of Colorado Springs, CO, known as a bastion of conservative Christians and led by a mayor who is a Republican, the homicide rate went up 60%. Lubbock, TX is run by a Republican mayor and the homicide rate in that city jumped up 100% this year. The homicide rate in Ft. Worth, TX shot up 66% and Ft. Worth has a Republican mayor. In Jacksonville, FL, another city known for its conservative politics, the homicide rate went up 20% in 2020 and that city has a Republican mayor. In Omaha, NE, the homicide rate increased 120% in 2020 and Omaha is led by a Republican mayor.
By simply pushing the facts showing that the homicide rate increased significantly in cities led by mayors who are Democrats the unmistakable conclusion is that Democrats are the reason for the increase in the homicide rate. But looking at the fact that some cities led by Republican mayors also witnessed big increases in the homicide rate, a different and inconvenient conclusion is obvious.
This is one example of how fake news and false narratives originate. Whether you get news from a cable news network or social media, don’t be so quick to believe something that seems too convenient to be true.
We have become a nation of people who are more interested in being right than being correct. People are too quick to pick up and spread news stories that appear to confirm their beliefs and are not interested in what is actually true.
