In my “C’mon People Now” post, I suggest there is no excuse for ignorance. We are fed a constant diet of mis- and dis-information. Yet, we have the internet. Yes, maybe the internet provides the means (e.g., through social media) to spread mis- and dis-information, it is also a place where you can find the truth – if you choose to look.
This time, I am going to go beyond suggesting there is no excuse for ignorance. I am going to say we have an obligation to dismiss lies and live in truth. Truth was such an important concept to our founding fathers, they explicitly stated in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . .” Unless we understood this, we could not accept the fundamental principles and identity that are the foundation of our country.
There is a picture of my husband’s parents at his aunt’s wedding. His mom is pregnant and holding a cigarette in her hand. Back then, no one thought anything of a woman smoking while pregnant.
No one thought anything of smoking at all. That’s because no one had any idea how toxic cigarettes and their secondhand smoke are. The reason for that?
I am going to guess in the beginning, cigarette companies didn’t know their product’s toxicity. But they did find out and they chose to downplay the harm and mislead the public in the name of profits.
Today, we know how much damage cigarettes can do, especially to unborn children. A big reason for this is that cigarette companies were eventually mandated by law not only to be transparent and truthful about the harm cigarettes cause, but to explicitly disclose that harm to the public.
Unfortunately, people still suffer severe illness and even death due to cigarettes. I have seen firsthand how cigarette smoking negatively impacts people’s lives, from the smokers themselves to their children who spent their childhood breathing secondhand smoke sometimes beginning in the womb.
I wonder how many chronic illnesses would have been prevented, how. many lives would have been saved had cigarette companies been forthcoming when they learned the deadliness of cigarettes.
This is just one example of the magnitude of harm that can be caused because of the lack of truth.
When the battle was taking place over the disclosure of cigarettes’ harm, the internet wasn’t even a notion. It was pretty darn difficult to research something like the hazardous effects of cigarettes. Today, things are different.
And, yet, the United States is in a crisis of truth. People don’t know what to believe. They don’t know how to discern the truth, so they believe lies.
The number of lies told by our current president are alarming at best, destructive at worst. Just think about the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. We had a mob try to overthrow the government because of this lie. People died. To this day, people still believe and spread this lie.
((See here for more information on the destructiveness of the President’s lies. For more information on Trump’s lies since returning to office: click here. For a scientific study on the President’s lies, see here.).)
I have said we have the internet to help sort lies from truth. But, how does one do that?
A piece in the New York Times outlined how reporters were able to verify the story of a young girl in a burning building in Gaza and eventually identify her. It gives an insight into how the pros check for the authenticity of a story.
Here are the three things they did: They used social media to find witnesses, video footage, etc. From there, they created a timeline. Lastly, they did the legwork, talking to family and witnesses.
Anyone can use social media to look for information. It might take a bit of work, but creating a timeline isn’t a skill specific to reporters. The legwork would be quite difficult for the average citizen. But, as they say, two out of three ain’t bad.
If you can’t do the legwork, then what? There are several fact-checking websites that can be used as a substitute for legwork. Here are a few of these sites.
As for consuming news, you should know the reliability of the organizations you get your news from. Fox News is watched by millions who take their content as truth, but is it? What about the New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal?
A starting point to check the reliability of news outlets could be “ad fontes media” that charts out various news outlets based on their bias and factual reporting.
Lastly, diversify the sources where you get your news. Always find a second (or third) source before spearing information.
Sounds like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be. A huge first step is to know which news sources tend to be the most factual. If you know this, it is pretty easy.
For example, if you are unsure about whether or not Trump told people to storm the Capitol, you could go to Snopes.com for their answer.
Or, you can do an internet search asking: “Did Trump Tell Supporters to Storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021?” Using Google, the top search result is NPR (43.1), then BBC (44.73), then Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, followed by AP News (44.82). Compare the tone of the reporting on these sites to the tone of Fox News (35.32). While you’re at it, compare their reliability ratings listed in the parentheses.
What sites would you choose to use? Why?
For me, I would do a little more research on “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” before considering them as a good source. I would have easily chosen NPR, BBC and/or AP. Fox News didn’t come up in my initial search results. To find their reporting, I added “Fox News” to my search criteria. If I were to consider Fox News, it would have been for comparison’s sake, not as a reliable source.
So, no excuses. Do your due diligence. Work to spread only truth. Become a truth-teller.
Finally, I thought this was a great quote for our current times: “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
The quote is attributed to George Orwell . . . but, after a quick internet search, there is no evidence he actually said this.
Update 10/28/25: I came across this video of a man, Brandon Miller, who wanted to understand the “sticking point” of the current government shutdown so decided to research it. This is what he found out from his morning search. Unfortunately, you will need to access through Facebook.