News source manipulation

[WiseOne]

This is an interesting new concept:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/merkel-warns ... 54526.html

I strongly doubt that bot-net news on social media is the main driver of the populist/anti-globalist movement, but it is interesting to know this is out there. It would have been helpful for the article to cite some examples though. Does this really exist??

The undertone of the article, though, contains a message that only the mainstream media can produce "legitimate" news, and that all sources that don't follow that script need to be shut down. Shades of Orwell, and rather frightening. I hope this isn't what Angela Merkel meant.

[Pointedstick]

No news is worth paying attention to. If something really significant happens, you'll know about it. Heck, with the way things are these days, people are even going to tell you about all the irrelevant nonsense you're missing out on by ignoring the news!

http://hommelscitadel.com/the-fake-outrage-machine/

[Tyler]

I prefer my fake news from the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/proj ... ic-fallout

It really does now look like President Donald J. Trump, and markets are plunging. When might we expect them to recover?

Frankly, I find it hard to care much, even though this is my specialty. The disaster for America and the world has so many aspects that the economic ramifications are way down my list of things to fear.

Still, I guess people want an answer: If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.

Railing against the dangers of "fake news" while turning up the volume on their own fake news isn't going to end well for the MSM now that people have caught on.

[Kbg]

I could go on about this topic forever. Humankind has probably been manipulated by false or half false news since the beginning of time. However, the methods are much more sophisticated now and much more tailored to you personally. In this respect it may be a little more dangerous because what you read will prey upon your predilections and biases as divined by very sophisticated algorithms. If you believe a particular piece of news is significant you should definitely try to verify it via multiple sources that aren't all of the same political or ideological bent.

[Pointedstick]

I will repeat: don't read the news. If you must, stick to local news. The more boring the story, the less likely it is that you're being manipulated.

[Mountaineer]

Interesting analysis, even if somewhat slanted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td5xFxiEuQQ

A Mathematician's Perspective on the Divide - Published on Nov 23, 2016
A different perspective on the 2016 presidential election, based on statistics in context. Full text on the link shown below the video.

[GT]

I could go on about this topic forever. Humankind has probably been manipulated by false or half false news since the beginning of time. However, the methods are much more sophisticated now and much more tailored to you personally. In this respect it may be a little more dangerous because what you read will prey upon your predilections and biases as divined by very sophisticated algorithms. If you believe a particular piece of news is significant you should definitely try to verify it via multiple sources that aren't all of the same political or ideological bent.

I try this example as well.. I read the FOX news feed and then the Washington Post feed. I compare the baseline news and then try and weed out the spin. I must say that it gets very tiring looking for "just the facts". I feel like a detective on an old episode of Dragnet.