Critical Skepticism and the Media

The current and often lamentable realities of the Internet and social media have helped to call into question the veracity of much of what is published in the news media. Sadly, for all critical skeptics, this makes the effort of sorting out what’s true from what is being reported with spin and bias all the more difficult.

Sorting through inchoate and contradictory claims from various news sources is next to impossible. Very often what was reported at the point the news was breaking changes as more and more information becomes available to reporters. What we thought in the beginning can be incredibly different as time proceeds.

With this reality, a critical skeptic must be willing to be open-minded while still obeying the tenets of the ideology of doubt.

Following are a few techniques that we can apply in this brave new world of instant (and often misleading or downright incorrect) news.

According to a 2016 poll by Pew Research, 64% of
Americans find that Fake News "has caused a great
deal of confusion."
https://goo.gl/GFxS0G

• Glean your news from various and trusted sources, with the understanding that you will be able to see a larger thread of truth in the heterogeneity of this particular practice. For instance, a friend that reads four or five different newspapers a day, may have a better grasp on a current event than the friend that gets all their news from only one source.
• Always pay attention to the attributed spin of the various news sources you use. Some newspapers and online or televised news sources are well known to be “strongly left-leaning” or “very conservative”. While this reality is not inherently bad (based on your own political biases) it can be the cause for intentional misrepresentation from the particular perspective represented. To deal with this, the critical skeptic does not shy away from reading news written at any point of the political spectrum. Just because you don’t agree with the position, doesn’t mean that important information cannot be learned. This is very important to remember.
• Keep your mental waste basket handy with news bloggers and headlines. Always click through to the article and read it thoroughly. A critical skeptic must not be too easily swayed by shocking headlines or posts on social media. Much of what is posted there is meant to get your attention and distract you with emotional content such as ‘the outrage factor’. Feel free to toss any of these kinds of posts away. There’s no need to value all news in the same way, understanding that much of it is fluff meant to sell advertising.
• Finally, avoid the temptation to only or mostly follow one news source above all others. Often, we tend to gravitate to the source that agrees most with our own world view and even if we are trying to remain unbiased, our personal beliefs can cause us to be too dependent on information that helps rather than hinders the backfire effect.

By adhering to these basic techniques the critical skeptic can continue to revere the ideology of doubt and uncertainty in a world where the prevalence for fake news is becoming more and more a very real problem.