Journalistic Sources

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

Update:  McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024.  New York Times best seller.

I’m an in-your-hands newspaper guy. I like hearing the sound of crinkling paper, the feel of newsprint in my hands and doing the puzzles and riddles with a pencil or pen.

I’m not naive. The days of the in-your-hands newspaper will soon be a relic of the past. Like the typewriter, cassette tape and memory stick, it will join the continuous and growing line of things that used to be,

But, while I still can, I pick up my San Jose Mercury News and read it between bites of breakfast.

I scan the Front page headlines and peruse the front section stories. Sometimes, like this morning, I see a linkage in two or more stories, editorials or opinions. That gets my brain going and kindles both my imagination and rationality.

Today was a bonus day. There were two intertwining themes that engaged me.

The first was an editorial by a University of California economist on the need for a national Billionaires tax. it was an interesting way of urging a No vote on California’s Prop 40 which would impose a one time tax on California-based Billionaires.

The second revolved around the global energy economy and AI. War with Iran and the impact on global petrochemical supplies. China’s stockpiling of oil and increasing it’s refining capabilities and growing dependence on coal. Russia’s invasion and war on Ukraine. California governor and possible 2028 presidential candidate, Gavin Newsom declaring a State of Emergency in anticipation of the climatic impact of a massively strong El Nino ocean warming event in the central Pacific Ocean.

A record high on the stock market fueled by record profits by major oil companies. Sometimes I have to stretch to find connections. Today it was easy. Mess with the global oil market by decreasing oil supplies which in turn drives up oil and gasoline prices. Big oil companies see a huge increase in profits and the value of their corporate stock rises accordingly.

Factor in AI and it’s insatiable appetite for electricity and the connections between war, energy supply and stock values comes into a clearer focus. Combine these things with the climate change-induced conditions leading to the El Nino event likely to have a devastating impact on California in the Winter of 2026 and the seemingly unrelated or distantly related stories seem to make more sense.

I guess you can also get the experience of seeing these stories in close proximity in the online version of the newspaper as well, but it, for now at least doesn’t offer the satisfaction of the crackling sound, the newsprint feel, the pencil scratch on paper. Today’s growing dependence on private individuals doing podcasts is not journalism. They offer relevant opinions on a huge variety of topics.

What podcasts fail to do is to offer a news organization capable of gathering the news first hand and engaging in deep, meaningful and fact-based investigations into current events. I love the podcasts that I follow: Sisters-in-Law, Throughline, Science Friday. I want the Constitutionally protected journalism that I am entitled to in addition to the supplemental information provided by the wide array of talented podcasters. By the way, does anyone know the significance of the word “pod” in podcast?

Give me the crunch, feel and touch of a real life newspaper.

A few messages from San Jose Indivisible. I’m often up there with the crew. It’s a dedicated group. About 2 1/2 hours twice a week on a San Jose overpass.