Propaganda in Disguise

There are some things that I figured I would see in my lifetime.  Technology is moving fast so any advancements that may come about are not out out of the scope of my imagination.  Socially, however, there is one thing that I never thought I would see.  The idea of "fake news" baffles me.  I grew up watching Ted Copple tell us the news from the day and we hung on every word.  You had a weird relationship with your news anchors that they didn't know about but they knew they had an impact on how people viewed the world and their country.  Giving the news to people was an art form and all those artists would be rolling over in their graves today at the idea of fake news.

Fake news is exactly what it sounds like but it has proven to be quite dangerous.  Yes you simply post a suggestive picture or a headline to fit your motive and off you go.  The truth level is negligible if it helps get your point across.  You can spot fake news if you are interested.  The link is useful but it is a rehash of all the things your old English teacher taught you about gathering sources for a research paper.  So how can this be dangerous you ask?  What if a fake news story almost prompted a nuclear war in the Middle East?  Sounds crazy but that is a real news story.  And of course, all that nuclear war talk was settled by government officials on Twitter.  Go figure.

I was a social studies teacher and if you remember back to your history classes you were taught about propaganda.  You probably have the Nazi posters burned into your brain as an example of government supported misinformation.  It was a tactic to convince the public to buy in to the goals of that government or an idea that would support their mission.  Often, propaganda was fought with truth.  This was how you combat misinformation.  After all, the truth shall set you free (and all those other cliche sayings about truth).

Today, fake news has taken propaganda to a new level and with new upgrades.  Fake news is generated by people with agendas.  Propaganda was always generated by official bodies of government.  People have social media now.  They don't have to dump their flyers out of planes to spread ideas anymore.  The political landscape and campaign tactics have also lent a hand in making fake news into today's propaganda.

Lets take some examples and yes, we have to pick on the Trump campaign to do it.  Eric Tucker Tweeted a picture of buses at an Austin, Texas.  You can read the Tweet below.  The post was retweeted 16,000 times and shared over 350,000 times on Facebook.  Within a day, it had been picked up by several conservative news sites and even Donald Trump himself Tweeted in support of the notion that the media had been incited professional protesters.  Everything about the post was proven to be untrue yet it took shape and became a story in a presidential campaign.  Not bad for a guy that had just 40 Twitter followers when this all started.

If some is good for the campaign, more can better right?  Donald Trump has even used his Twitter account for misinformation.  He used speaking engagements to inflame his supporters. He may have some context for the remarks but those do not make the headlines.  Remember the time he said that Barack Obama founded ISIS and Hillary Clinton was the co-founder?  He could have been trying to assert that Obama's foreign policy helped create the conditions that allowed ISIS to form, but he in no way attempted to paint the situation that way.  Instead, he recklessly made inflammatory statements that made the headlines. Those statements don't have to be true, they just have to plant a seed.  Sounds like propaganda to me.

I find it funny that Trump on one hand blasts the "mainstream media" for not giving him a chance and on the other hand he participates in the same troublesome behavior of ignoring truth and facts.  He can do this because it works.  The American public has gone soft to the notion of truth.  Social media has allowed us to see a headline, fake or not, decide that it supports out personal beliefs, and then share it and annoy people with it.  Soon, guys like Erik Tucker are "journalists" and that is not good.  Why hasn't Trump come out in support of the truth and condemned fake news?  Because it is free and effective propaganda is disguise.

There are some reasonable people are fed up with fake news and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is taking up the issue. In the meantime we are just gonna have to learn how to sort the real from the fake news and hope nations do not begin a nuclear war over it.  I leave with you with this clip from Samantha Bee.  Yes, she is crazy liberal but this piece accurately sums up how I feel about this.  If you can handle a little mild adult language, I think you will like it too.

Chase Her Example

It seemed like only yesterday I wrote about Morgan Griffith when she was in junior high.  It seemed like only yesterday when the discussion started about her breaking the career scoring record at Frankfort Community High School.  It seemed like only yesterday I was visiting the hospital with the rest of the family to meet her when she was born.  Morgan is my niece and I have been lucky enough to have a front row seat to her basketball career.  Time sure does fly by and what a ride it has been for her.

This week, Morgan hit a free throw to put her atop the career scoring list in West Frankfort.  I remember at the end of her junior year the speculation of when she would break the record was running wild.  The confidence in her to accomplish this feat was not surprising.  She is a well rounded, talented and a consistently healthy player.  The crowd was great that night, the fans were loud and the showing of love and respect for her when that free throw went in was heartwarming and filled us with pride.  Everyone loves a record breaker and a winner and Morgan is definitely that.

We are drawn to these types of people.  Its fun to watch a player get closer and closer to a milestone and we cheer them on.  Lets make sure we know what we are cheering for.  If you really knew her, you would know that she has career goals that reach far beyond basketball.  If you really knew her, you would know that she is on track to have her Associates Degree from John A. Logan College when she graduates high school.  The basketball scholarship she will playing under from Missouri S & T will get her into graduate school.  She is tremendous young lady that understands where she is going and how to get there.

I found this quote from Mia Hamm and I thought of kids like Morgan.  Her assault on the record books didn't start with actually breaking a record or when she was a starter her freshman year.  It started the day she decided to pick up a basketball.  We often see the end of career accomplishments and think that kid was a tremendous player.  But what many miss is the journey it takes for someone to get here.  The work, the pressure, the politics and targets on your back would make most buckle.  She has endured and now not only receives the accolades but it has been a vehicle to get her to where she is going.

If I have a message for Morgan and any other kid that takes this journey is to never stop being that little girl that first picked up a basketball.  Morgan refuses to stop learning, is always curious about the game and her craft just like the wonderment you see in a child.  It has made her a great basketball player and a great person.  She is ambitious and is blind to limitations and I'm not talking about on the basketball floor.  Always be true to that little girl that first picked up a basketball.

I want to thank Morgan for being a great example for little girls that choose to pick up a basketball.  I hope hundred of girls chase her record and her example.  It will only serve our community well and give us the right narrative to tell to our student athletes.  All too often we have to endure stories of great players that have bad approaches to the game of life.  They become headlines for the wrong reasons but today she makes headlines for the right reasons and is a shining example for aspiring Lady Redbirds.  With any luck, my daughter will join the chase.