THOMPSON: Social media not the place for accurate, factual news

I’ve written somewhere North of 500 weekly columns…and yet will probably run out of time before I run out of ideas. Truly, ideas spring from a bottomless pit. I might read something…or hear something…or see something that spurs a new idea.

Sometimes, someone will say something…stated as an undeniable fact and I decide to dig a little deeper than the first layer of topsoil…and discover not only another topic for a column…but truth.

So it is with this week’s column…about immigration. Someone told me they had a tough time getting work “because immigrants are taking our jobs.” This is something I’ve heard a good bit during the past five years…both here and the U.S.

Immigration – and all that might be wrong with policy – is a red herring most every time the economy takes a bad turn. I knew that this so-called “fact” about immigrants taking jobs – based on my reading and knowledge of the issue – wasn’t true.

I challenged the person for the source of their information. As an experienced journalist, I know that folks can be very defensive when they pass along fiction for fact…whether out of ignorance or to intentionally misinform…and get caught.

If you can’t name the source or respond with something better than, “Well, the story’s out there. It’s everywhere,” you’re going to get a stare from me…and some more questions…tougher questions. The world simply isn’t a better place when fiction is served up as fact…when lies masquerade as truths.

One of the bad things about Social Media is that lazy folks go there for news…for facts…for truths…for accuracy. It’s like panning for gold…the nuggets are few and far between.

Another failing of Social Media is that people with an agenda…people who deal in propaganda, misinformation and disinformation…use those channels because they know the audiences – by and large – aren’t too discriminating about who, what, when, where and how.

These folks are nothing more than “influencers”…the heroes of those on Instagram, Tik-Tok and Facebook who find critical thinking just too much work. They use sensational headlines…and their news tends to be heavier on fiction than facts.

For the record…immigrants are NOT taking jobs from Canadians. Immigrants aren’t taking jobs from Americans either.

If you want to know anything about immigration in Canada…go to Canada.ca. Every statistic you might want and some you likely never pondered is there. Facts, truths…information you can depend on. So, why the misinformation on Social Media?

Folks who want someone else to blame for, well, just about anything and everything tell their stories on Social Media. Those who post something know the bar is pretty low when it comes to folks making an effort to confirm or deny the accuracy of what’s there.

It’s easy to find people willing to blame others…always has been. Nazis sold the idea that all the problems in Germany in the 1930s could be laid at the feet of Jews. It wasn’t true, of course, but the propaganda worked.

When folks aren’t curious enough to go beyond what they’re spoon-fed…they are at the mercy of those who are pushing a self-serving agenda.

There are countless podcasts today…and many of those are suspect for shading the truth to satisfy audiences. Telling a half-truth isn’t the same as telling the truth. If a podcaster knows there is an audience more than willing to listen to a narrative that fits a audience segment’s views…they will listen.

Of course, that following is monetized through advertising or subscription fees. There are folks – with no credentials or expertise – who have become multi-millionaires by simply feeding the masses what they want to hear.

There are segments of the populations of both the U.S. and Canada, for example, that are both anti-government and prone to accept conspiracy theories and are the largest audiences for mostly Right Wing social media and podcasts.

Last week, when John Brennan, former CIA Director appeared on a MS Now segment, a family member watching with me said she couldn’t stand him. I asked, why?

She responded by asking if I knew about John Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. intelligence officer and “whistleblower” who openly confirmed in 2007 that waterboarding was used to torture prisoners at secret prisons outside the U.S. I did, I said, having read about it in several places, including The New York Times and Washington Post.

She said she saw a Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which I had not seen, and knew all about the story. I checked it out on YouTube the next day. This particular episode of the Joe Rogan Experience – like many similar podcasts whose audiences distrust government, told a story…but not the complete story. Rogan made it sound like CIA Director Brennan had a vendetta against Kiriakou…and that’s why he was prosecuted in 2011, and went to prison for 30 months.

Rogan didn’t explain that Kiriakou pleaded guilty to one felony count of disclosing classified information to reporters. That’s why he went to prison. Also, he didn’t tell viewers that Kiriakou had actually said on-camera in 2007, that there were justifiable reasons for waterboarding prisoners.

His target audience – given their demographics – liked a story that made the government – CIA Director Brennan and the Department of Justice – look bad. Excluding two important facts made that more palatable for his audience.

Personally, I think “whistleblowers” should be protected…unless they break laws. My larger point is that Social Media posts and podcasts need to be put to the test…check other sources…the objective is truth.

I’m a newshound…I read multiple news media sites daily. Not everyone takes the time or interest, perhaps, to make that effort.

But, if you are going to passalong disinformation and misinformation…you owe it to yourself…and certainly others…if you care about accuracy, facts and truth.