Everyone is entitled to my opinion.

A lot of people are talking and writing these days about fake news sites and what to do with them.


Personally, I don't want these sites banned. I want to know who these "journalists" are and what they're doing. If fake news sites are banned, it would be harder to know about them, harder to watch them as they slither into their holes or morph into other forms. I'd like to see fake news sites tagged with a giant symbol or diagonal slash across the headline that says: FAKE NEWS, or better still, CLICKBAIT. 


How To Deal With The Media


If you put your energies into confronting or watching the media, see James Fallows' articles, and practical advice:



Print out and post, or send your friends the practical guide provided by Melissa Zimbars, associate professor of communications at Merrimack College. False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources


When you see fake news or lies, email the editor and note the inaccuracies.


Take a screen shot of the lies and tweet them to the advertisers asking if they want to be associated with any website deliberately skewing the truth. It does not hurt to remind advertisers that supporting fake news might make consumers of their products question the veracity of their own product claims.


​More to come.


Can You Trust Any Media?
​November 29, 2016

Take Action

Media: Deal With It


​We live in the "Information Age," which means that we are easily bombarded and overwhelmed by rumors, innuendos, gossip, and "intelligence" about actual events.


Media can control us, or we can control it. 



We’ve already seen how Trumpers use and misuse the “truth.” In these dark days, we can expect that “truth” will be manipulated to serve many purposes. 

Some “news” stories will be smoke screens to obscure what's happening. Some will “herd” us to support non-existent issues or useless causes. Some news will be used to outrage us, to wear us out—or paralyze us with FEAR. If we let every story, rumor, new bulletin, breaking news item, Internet rumor, viral video, email or meme get to us, we will become ineffective. We will become emotionally exhausted and throw a blanket over our heads to rest. 

That works for the demagogue. The fewer people watching, the better. 

We need to know the truth. We need to know if it is true that people are being rounded up and sent to detention camps. If we dismiss such claims as mere rubbish, then we might miss what is actually happening in our communities. If we believe such claims, we risk expending precious energy on rumors deliberately designed to divert our attention from REAL events.

Vigilance means we take the time to learn the truth -- and then act. 

It will be easier if you focus on the news that is relevant to the issues you have chosen to fight for. Remember you are only one ant, and you need to keep biting. 

So, what news sources can you trust? I don’t know. But the following sites help me wade through the camouflage of fake news. Granted, sometimes these sites frustrate me with the details, but details are important and often distinguish real news from fake news. Don’t take my word for it. Do your own due diligence and check out each site. 

FactCheck is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters, which aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. The site has an excellent page on How to Spot Fake News.

PolitiFact rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics.

Snopes was founded in 1995 to research urban legends.The site maintains a list of FAKE news websites.


Media Bias/Fact Check is an independent website intending to educate the public about media bias and deceptive news practices.