From Donald Weyer:
I'm confused! So let me see if I can work my way out of this perplexing welter.
It seems to me that almost a day doesn't go by without hearing about "news" and supposedly its opposite, "fake news," being batted back and forth over the net, only to fall to the ground, no foul, no point, scored. My ears' sense of sound gets tired following the word-
To better understand this phenomenon, I need to flesh out on the page some of my observations of the match on this court of public dissension:
1. Rochester, N.Y. has a newspaper, the "Democrat and Chronicle," which doesn't have an editorial page. Why? Unheard of in a relatively big city's newspaper.
2. Buffalo, N.Y. has a newspaper, the "Buffalo News," which does have an editorial page, but only prints its "letters to the editor," at most, 2 days out of 7 days in its publishing week. Why? Unheard of in a relatively big city's newspaper. (All 7 days of "letters" are published in its "online" edition, which a reader must pay for). One can read the paper edition for free at the public library.
3. Batavia, N.Y. has an 'online" only, news site, "The Batavian," which is principally local- and regional-directed. No national or international news, very little business news, a small amount of state news. (It is currently charging a fee for readers to get "first-access" to certain articles, and after a limited amount of time, the articles are then free to read). There's a lot to be said for staying small, focused, and doing what you know best! This news site does all these well, without becoming a newsletter. Better yet, not a Bezos or a Berkshire Hathaway, huge corporations that ventured into media. At times though, its local coverage becomes almost quaint:Girl Scout Cookie sales, pine-derby competitions, quilting bees, etc.!
4. Also in Batavia, N.Y. is the "Batavia Daily News," print and "online". (The "print" is free to read at the public library, and the "online" has a subscriber fee). This newspaper checks most of the boxes for a traditional one: international, national, local, sports, weather, obituaries, etc., although the "online" edition tilts mainly local, maybe in competition with "The Batavian," which is a good thing. Anyway, it, too, has an editorial page and "letters to the editor," and is probably stronger in "opinion" than "The Batavian". But then "The Batavian" can always improve, can't it?
5. The "Wall Street Journal," unfortunately associated in many peoples' minds as a solely business and stock-market publication, which it no longer is, represents the best of the current collection of print newspapers, in my estimation. (Check out its "Life," "Art," and "Books" sections, and particularly, its Saturday edition). The "New York Times" and "U.S.A.Today" pale in comparison to the "WSJ". (It too has an "online" edition, which a reader must pay for. The print edition is free to read, again, at the public library).
After all this context, and hopefully my readers' attention, my point is I think that a lot of the "fake news" issue results from the weakening, hollowing-out, fragmentation, single-issue politics and slant , of which the traditional newspaper didn't have to cope with.
You know, all the long-established, respected press institutions had one aim and one aim only:publish "all the news that's fit to print." (Credit to "N.Y.Times"). And from my point of view, hopefully, print all the competing opinions, both professional and pedestrian! The newspaper business, as currently constituted, is at fault, itself, for the rise of accusations of "fake news". Not the left wing, the right wing, the central wing, progressives, or conservatives, with their concomitant agendas and loves and hates! And I lay the cause of all your hand-wringing, vociferations, assaults, and attacks, relating to "fake news" squarely at your own feet. If you, big press, had all reported all the "real" news, there would have been no opportunity for "fake" news to creep up and proliferate in the cracks of the sidewalk beneath your own guilty feet. But no, today's big press, you were solely focussed on the "bottom line" of your balance sheets, and getting as many "eyeballs" reading your publications, come "hell or high water". Period!
