Journalism Doesn't Do 'Fake News'

Daniel Sieberg

Let’s call “fake news” what it is: bunk.

Daniel Sieberg, co-founder of journalism operations at Brooklyn’s The Civil Media Company, told the G&S Global Street Fight conference in Manhattan today that he doesn’t like the term “fake news.”

Fake news, to Sieberg (a veteran of Google, CNN, CBS, BBC, MSNBC) is misinformation or something that is purposely flat-out wrong.

A big segment of society embraces “fake news” because it simply disagrees with cold hard facts or real-time developments in the world.

Fact-deniers will search high and low to find even the slightest error in a story to discredit the entire body of reporting as “fake news.”

And forget about corrections. Though a correction is made, the targeted story is forever branded “fake news.”

The goal of journalism is to get it right the first time. A reporter can’t crowd-source facts, said Sieberg. Reporters are human. Mistakes happen. They get fixed.

Journalism doesn’t do “fake news,” which is geared to pushing a political agenda.

Donald Trump took to Twitter today to launch a “fake news” tirade against media outlets that he believes do not heap sufficient praise upon him.

He was perhaps upset with his failure to torpedo AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner and presidential nemesis CNN,

Here’s what the president of the US tweeted:

“So funny to watch the Fake News, especially NBC and CNN. They are fighting hard to downplay the deal with North Korea. 500 days ago they would have “begged” for this deal—looked like war would break out. Our Country’s biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!”

Really?

Of course, Trump’s taunts hurled at the former “Little Rocket Man” and threat to rain fire and fury down on North Korea were reasons why the world feared nuclear Armageddon.

After the Singapore swing, Little Rocket Man is now the “honorable” Kim Jong-un, whom Trump legitimized on the world stage with a five-hour visit filled with priceless photo-ops for the dictator.

The nuclear-armed nut job who murdered family members, starved his own people and enslaved thousands in prisons and work camps sat face-to-face with the president of the US.

National Public Radio reports that Kim believes he’s the huge winner after the session with Trump.

Monitoring North Korea’s media, NPR reports the Koreans say Trump made a series of guarantees to Kim (lifting sanctions, ending joint military exercises with South Korea) that weren’t included in the joint statement of the US and NK.

Is that just more “fake news," Mr. President?