From: Xiaotian Chen <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2016 19:35:17 -0600

"Fake news" is lies, not the other side of story, different views,
voice of the weak and unheard, or tabloid news.

Yes, the US mainstream media had their "Dewey defeats Truman" fiasco
in 1948 and again in 2016.  However, fake news, if we all agree that
its definition is lies, is by no means the other side of the coin and
should not be treated by librarians as such.

---
Xiaotian Chen
Electronic Services Librarian / Associate Professor
Editor DOAJ (www.doaj.org)
Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, USA.  1-309-677-2839
http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~chen/


On Sun, Nov 27, 2016 at 7:10 AM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Susan Lafferty <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2016 23:03:28 +0000
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Just because we respect some journalists and news outlets and not
> others doesn’t mean we have a role in deciding what is fact and what
> is fiction.
>
> If we choose to preserve 'real news' and not 'fake news' we do a
> disservice to those outlets that don't toe the line and to readers who
> believe those outlets.
>
> Do we have a right to preserve only our own reality?  I think not.
>
> ·        Think of how inaccurate the reporting was with regard to
> polls in the recent US elections - that reporting was 'fake news' too.
>
> ·        What about all the reporting of WMDs in Iraq? Are we
> preserving the outlets that challenged this ‘real news’?
>
> ·        Think of all the conspiracy theories about JFK - now some of
> them appear to hold some truth...
>
> ·        In previous generations, censorship and misinformation have
> been utilised in mainstream media for ‘national security’ purposes
>
> ·        In previous generations, McCarthyism was given a voice in
> mainstream media.
>
> ·        In previous generations minorities had NO voice in mainstream media.
>
> ·        What about when Oliver Cromwell was the good guy? (see? some
> of you will say he still is, others won’t)
>
> Left and right wing ‘rags’ and rubbish magazines tell us the truth
> sometimes when we don’t want to hear it. Someone needs to preserve
> them too.
>
> We have a responsibility to preserve 'fake news' as sources of
> research for future generations.  If not, we run the risk of
> increasing the bias of preserved knowledge available to them.  Just
> like my Japanese friend was never taught anything about WWII in
> school…
>
> Let those future generations decide for themselves, in hindsight, what
> was true and what was fake, by giving them the whole picture.
>
> Maybe Mark Zuckerberg could continue to rely on the Facebook community
> to decry ‘false news’ and concentrate on weeding out bullies.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Susan Lafferty