It's a funny thing. Years ago, journalists reported facts or at least as close to facts as they could come. Media outlets had editorial pages or commentary articles that expressed opinions. That distinction is totally gone. First, the media moved opinions to the news pages. Then they incorporated opinion into the news articles themselves. Readers no longer got just the facts without hearing the viewpoint blatantly expressed throughout the article. But now things have gone further. We're no longer being fed facts and opinions; now we're also getting speculation.
Here's the opening of a Washington Post front page article just published:
"The failure of the United States and China to reach agreement Friday on a comprehensive trade deal raises the possibility that President Donald Trump's favorite negotiating tool - high tariffs on imported goods - may be hardening into a permanent feature of the U.S. economy."
Notice that this "news" report is just a speculation as to what "may be" happening in the future. It's preposterous that this is passed off as news by one of the biggest outlets of the mainstream media. Think about it; what changed between Thursday and today that now makes this speculation worth reporting? The USA and China held yet another meeting which both described as "cordial" to discuss trade. Both the USA and China agreed that there would be further meetings. The rise in US tariffs previously announced went into effect on Thursday. In short, the two countries moved a bit further along towards a conclusion of the ongoing trade negotiations. That doesn't indicate that permanent tariffs were any more or less likely today than they were last Thursday. The WaPo, however, has decided to attack the administration by proclaiming that high tariffs are coming and will remain.
Suppose Fox News ran a news story on its website in which it announced that following recent interactions between Congress and the White House, it seems likely that John Brennan, Jim Comey, Andrew McCabe and James Clapper will be indicted for defrauding the FISA court. You can be sure that the engine of the mainstream media would crank up and denounce the article as mere speculation, inappropriate, and unworthy of being published. But they have no problem pushing speculation as news themselves. In fact, it is probably more likely that one of that group will be indicted than that tariffs on Chinese goods at the current level will become permanent. Of course, that's my opinion only.
It's important in reading the "news" to keep your eyes open to what are actual facts, what are opinions and what is mere speculation.
Here's the opening of a Washington Post front page article just published:
"The failure of the United States and China to reach agreement Friday on a comprehensive trade deal raises the possibility that President Donald Trump's favorite negotiating tool - high tariffs on imported goods - may be hardening into a permanent feature of the U.S. economy."
Notice that this "news" report is just a speculation as to what "may be" happening in the future. It's preposterous that this is passed off as news by one of the biggest outlets of the mainstream media. Think about it; what changed between Thursday and today that now makes this speculation worth reporting? The USA and China held yet another meeting which both described as "cordial" to discuss trade. Both the USA and China agreed that there would be further meetings. The rise in US tariffs previously announced went into effect on Thursday. In short, the two countries moved a bit further along towards a conclusion of the ongoing trade negotiations. That doesn't indicate that permanent tariffs were any more or less likely today than they were last Thursday. The WaPo, however, has decided to attack the administration by proclaiming that high tariffs are coming and will remain.
Suppose Fox News ran a news story on its website in which it announced that following recent interactions between Congress and the White House, it seems likely that John Brennan, Jim Comey, Andrew McCabe and James Clapper will be indicted for defrauding the FISA court. You can be sure that the engine of the mainstream media would crank up and denounce the article as mere speculation, inappropriate, and unworthy of being published. But they have no problem pushing speculation as news themselves. In fact, it is probably more likely that one of that group will be indicted than that tariffs on Chinese goods at the current level will become permanent. Of course, that's my opinion only.
It's important in reading the "news" to keep your eyes open to what are actual facts, what are opinions and what is mere speculation.
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