Fake News isn't New News

While President Trump keeps calling the mainstream media “Fake News” one of the President’s favorite news sources was putting out fake news itself. In 2010 Andrew Breitbart took out a smear campaign against USDA official Shirley Sherrod. Breitbart took a speech she had given at an NAACP event and turned into making her seem like she is racist. Sherrod was forced to resign.

The NAACP released the raw video of the speech to show that what Breitbart edited the video to a point where what she was saying sounded racist. This shows how any media should be verified before any rash decision or judgment is made. It can also show us how powerful the media can be if it is put out on a powerful platform. In a never-ending news cycle a story like this could be picked up and not vetted.


I know this has to have been said over and over again but, before we as readers make decisions about something we need to realize the source. We have to be skeptical about what is put out in the media these days even if it is as outrageous as what Andrew Breitbart did. Look we all love some drama and controversy as long as it is not about us. It adds some excitement to our lives. However, we must separate the fake and exciting stuff from the real and not so exciting.

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