by Jon Rappoport
The basic purpose of these ten forms: the presentation of a false picture of reality.
You could find more forms, or divide these ten into sub-categories.
The ten basic forms are:
* Direct lying about matters of fact. (This sometimes includes doubling down on lies already told, or telling a bigger lie after the first one.)
* Leaving out vital information [lying by omission].
* Limited hangout. (This is an admission of a crime or a mistake, which only partially reveals the whole truth. The idea is that by admitting a fraction of what really happened and burying the biggest revelations, people will be satisfied and go away, and the story will never be covered again.)
* Shutting down the truth after publishing it—includes failing to follow up and investigate a story more deeply.
* Not connecting dots between important pieces of data.
* Censoring the truth, wherever it is found (or calling it “fake news”).
* Using biased “experts” to present slanted or false “facts.”
* Repeating a false story many times—this includes the echo-chamber effect, in which a number of outlets “bounce” the false story among themselves.
* Claiming a reasonable and true consensus exists, when it doesn’t, when there are many important dissenters, who are shut out from offering their analysis.
* Employing a panoply of effects (reputation of the media outlet, voice quality of the anchor, acting skills, dry mechanical language, studio lighting, overlay of electronic transmissions, etc.) to create an impression of elevated authority which is beyond challenge.
These are all traditional forms and methods.
On a related subject, the Qatar-based Al Jazerra news channel has long come under fire from groups in the West and now a coalition of Arab countries have demanded that the channel be shut down (plus other demands) or their sanctions on Qatar will continue.
There’s no doubt that Al Jazeera does indulge in fake news as defined above, particularly regarding Israel (its prime enemy) and Egypt, which is leading the Arab sanctions: in essence the consequence of animosity between Egypt’s military leaders and the Muslim Brotherhood which has been a feature of Egypt ever since the revolution of 1952, but has become open hostility in the last few years. The Muslim Brotherhood is the parent organisation of Hamas which controls the Gaza strip, but has many members in other countries, particularly Qatar and Turkey.
Should news channels that indulge in fake news for political objectives be shut down? It’s debatable.