The Importance of Fact-Checking
L: https://lithub.com/on-the-episode-that-changed-ira-glasss-this-american-life-forever/
C: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43549893
posted on 2025.04.01 at 14:20:56 (c=0, p=4)
I think the first few paragraphs saying news doesn't use narrative paragraphs reek. They're false. They're not true. News is overwhelmingly narrative, and that's not making things less partisan, it's making things more partisan. When reporters report that Donald Trump says "neo Nazis and white supremacists are very fine people" in the same speech where he actually said "white supremacists and neo Nazis should be condemned completely" they're relying entirely on narrative, and just like in the ultimate story of this American life in the article, it's because they have a story they want to tell, a narrative they want to provide, damn the facts and figures. Ironically, if you watch the entire interview, the story isn't about whether Donald Trump said neo-nazis or what white supremacists are very fine people or should be condemned completely.
The real story is that Donald Trump spent the entire press conference bumping heads with the press. He challenged them at every point. He actually agreed with him in a lot of ways, but he didn't trust them to be able or willing to report on enough of reality to give a nuance to viewpoint which ironically is exactly what he was trying to express. He was saying that some of the people who wanted those statues torn down were very fine people because they cared deeply about historical systemic oppression. He was also saying that some of the people who wanted those statues left up were very fine people because they care very deeply about historical preservation regardless of the narrative behind a certain statue, the people who they build statues of are nonetheless notable individuals. One narrative and not the only narrative is that Donald Trump was pushing back against the press for being liars, and so they went out and lied about him proving him right. It's really complicated. Especially since, depending on your point of view many different narratives that are in opposition to each other can still be true.
Now some people might think that I'm engaging in apologia for Trump, and I'm sure that people might say that he was saying his message in a sloppy way, that he didn't get it at a cross very well. I think that once you realize that Trump was actually being nuanced and the media just refused to report on that nuance, I don't see anything to defend. It's simply axiomatic that good guys are good and bad guys are bad. And it's not actually matter but it's very close that some of the good guys are going to disagree with you and some of the bad guys are going to agree with you and vice versa.
I'm not saying narrative isn't important, I'm saying a few things:
1. Narrative cuts through most epistemological frameworks to touch something pre-epistemic, our hearts and souls, our mammalian brain, sometimes our instinctual reptile brain.
2. Just because a big respected news outlet makes a narrative convincing doesn't mean it's true. It just means they were able to make something convincing.
3. Narrative is one of the key tools news uses today. If you listen to NPR, or MSNBC, or Daily Wire, or CNN, or even something like Alex Jones, part of the reason is they're weaving a narrative through selection and juxtaposition of stories over time. People have shockingly long attention spans in some ways, they choose their media sources for the long haul for a reason.
4. Narrative is one of the most important tools of modernism, and it doesn't behave like this story claims. Narrative is why European colonists thought it was ok to displace whenever was there. Narrative is the foundation of national socialism, or fascism, of Marxism. Modernist narrative has created more death through partisanship than any other force in history, though the narrative belonging to groups like the Mongolians certainly had a comparable impact on a much less populated earth centuries prior.
5. Truth is often left on the cutting room floor because narrative is more important than truth. Virtually everyone is doing that.
6. Truth didn't end up on the cutting room floor once in 2013. It's been constantly cut cut cut.
7. Ultimately, the viewer of media must be aware of all these things and be critical of narratives and discerning with multiple often contradictory truths and accept and admit these truths to get a better view of reality.
The real story is that Donald Trump spent the entire press conference bumping heads with the press. He challenged them at every point. He actually agreed with him in a lot of ways, but he didn't trust them to be able or willing to report on enough of reality to give a nuance to viewpoint which ironically is exactly what he was trying to express. He was saying that some of the people who wanted those statues torn down were very fine people because they cared deeply about historical systemic oppression. He was also saying that some of the people who wanted those statues left up were very fine people because they care very deeply about historical preservation regardless of the narrative behind a certain statue, the people who they build statues of are nonetheless notable individuals. One narrative and not the only narrative is that Donald Trump was pushing back against the press for being liars, and so they went out and lied about him proving him right. It's really complicated. Especially since, depending on your point of view many different narratives that are in opposition to each other can still be true.
Now some people might think that I'm engaging in apologia for Trump, and I'm sure that people might say that he was saying his message in a sloppy way, that he didn't get it at a cross very well. I think that once you realize that Trump was actually being nuanced and the media just refused to report on that nuance, I don't see anything to defend. It's simply axiomatic that good guys are good and bad guys are bad. And it's not actually matter but it's very close that some of the good guys are going to disagree with you and some of the bad guys are going to agree with you and vice versa.
I'm not saying narrative isn't important, I'm saying a few things:
1. Narrative cuts through most epistemological frameworks to touch something pre-epistemic, our hearts and souls, our mammalian brain, sometimes our instinctual reptile brain.
2. Just because a big respected news outlet makes a narrative convincing doesn't mean it's true. It just means they were able to make something convincing.
3. Narrative is one of the key tools news uses today. If you listen to NPR, or MSNBC, or Daily Wire, or CNN, or even something like Alex Jones, part of the reason is they're weaving a narrative through selection and juxtaposition of stories over time. People have shockingly long attention spans in some ways, they choose their media sources for the long haul for a reason.
4. Narrative is one of the most important tools of modernism, and it doesn't behave like this story claims. Narrative is why European colonists thought it was ok to displace whenever was there. Narrative is the foundation of national socialism, or fascism, of Marxism. Modernist narrative has created more death through partisanship than any other force in history, though the narrative belonging to groups like the Mongolians certainly had a comparable impact on a much less populated earth centuries prior.
5. Truth is often left on the cutting room floor because narrative is more important than truth. Virtually everyone is doing that.
6. Truth didn't end up on the cutting room floor once in 2013. It's been constantly cut cut cut.
7. Ultimately, the viewer of media must be aware of all these things and be critical of narratives and discerning with multiple often contradictory truths and accept and admit these truths to get a better view of reality.
- replies
- 0
- announces
- 0
- likes
- 0