I was asked yesterday, “I’m curious…do you fact check?”
If the question is, “Do you just go to one source, CNN or FoxNews, to see if what someone’s meme said is true and to see if it fits what I think it should sound like,” then no. I’m afraid I don’t do that version of fact checking. That’s not really fact checking at all, is it. It’s going to a source where you know you’re going to get the narrative that you expect. It’s rather an incomplete way of getting to the bottom of things on the surface and quite disingenuous at its core.
However, if the question is really, “When I look at a meme, do I not only critically analyze what is being said, but do I also do more than just go look at one article in a newspaper to see if that meme is actually correct by finding the actual conversation that took place and review the entire context”, then YES, I do fact check.
The answer to this is rather ironic. I probably spend way too much time researching important issues and then make notes, collect resources, etc. What I mean by that is, I go to multiple sources – especially sources that I would likely disagree with, I look to see what they have written in actual quotes and what are just their journalistic “add ons”, that they utilize in order to direct the reader’s perspective. I will also go find the source and investigate to see if what was said is actually true, what was added, what was missing and if it was spun.
If I read a headline – I can assess someone’s perspective really quickly – pro or for a particular person. A lot of op-ed pieces don’t you think? But if I see and article and it says, “Someone said, ‘I am the one who‘ is the most something ever“, I will know immediately that this writer has left something out and added something else. Special note: Unfortunately, sometimes people just completely misuse the “” quotes and just include their own perspective. But many times, they will quote part(bold), add in their bit(italics), leave out the rest of the comment and then rarely will they include the true context and hardly ever will they attach a link to the actual source. HOWEVER… that’s how people are informed now a days. What we get is innuendo, incorrect assertions and outright fabrications, no source – and of course assumes that the whole piece isn’t just the opinion based on which party the author ascribes to – which certainly slants the narrative.
But to the question at hand. Here are a couple of examples where I have gone through to fact check. You tell me your opinion. Do I fact check?
“Biden Claims Boilermakers Union Support for His Campain”
“Not Entitled To Your Own Facts, Senator Kamala Harris” regarding Honest Abe and the Trump Supreme Court Justice appointment.
With regards to the later of the two, I happened to have been watching the debate when Kamala said what she did and it didn’t quite sound correct. And oh boy, once I did the fact checking, I saw just how corrupt media is their their bias and just how flat out of a liar Kamala Harris is. It wasn’t a matter of degree as to how exaggerative she was, it was a completely fictitious lie. So, this is for you Melissa. Oh yes, I do fact check.
I’ll sign off with this. I can appreciate the two choice – absoluteness of your statement, however I will leave the racist/anti-racist and there is no in between for another time – because it is an incomplete position and it’s completely off topic to the other question you asked.
