From: Terry Clark
Columbus
In 1710, long before the internet, Jonathan Swift wrote: ”Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it; so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its effect.”
Our country thrives by looking at reality and taking action to combat the bad and increase the good. To succeed requires an honest look at the facts of our lives.
Reporters have been called upon and taught to relay the facts to their readers. They are schooled to be precise and are edited by mentors to be clear and truthful. They are hired by news outlets that must turn a profit. As a result, their stories are placed in areas that require the public to pay to read them. The truth is locked behind a paywall.
Falsehoods are created to confuse, confound and harm the public. Lies can come from foreign folks who wish us harm or from home-grown jokers, fools or liars. These lies are made up from thin air and are pushed on shady forums where they are picked up, formatted to look like the real thing and posted on websites or on social media to be “shared” with everyone. Lies are free and plentiful.
Our country has been rocked in the last few years by some lies that are more exciting than the truth.
For example, “A pizza joint keeps children in the basement for famous people to feed upon” goes the story, posted, reposted, tweeted and retweeted widely. A reporter goes to see the pizza joint and finds no basement, no children and no famous people. He only finds pizza. He goes back to the brick-and-mortar newsroom to write his story explaining what he saw. He types his story on high-dollar equipment and sends it to his well-paid editor to be pored over for accuracy and clarity. That story has cost a lot of time and money to produce so it goes behind the paywall where it can earn income. Because of that it costs hard-earned money for the public to read it.
Lies are free, but the truth costs, which could be why all the Q-Anonsense, and other lies and falsehoods, are so widespread.
