Honest John/Jane
By pgn
@pgntwo (22405)
Derry, Northern Ireland
September 18, 2015 12:11pm CST
Honesty, integrity, respect.
How much weight do you give to what you read on sites like myLot, FaceBook, Pinterest or even on Twitter and the like? A long time ago, I was amused to see the image attached to this post, and I still think it apt today - so much of what we see, not just on the Internet but in print, on the small or big screen and elsewhere, is subject to adjustment, doctoring, tweaking... bending the truth, to outright lies!
There was a time when the big newspapers prided themselves on being the most direct, most open and most accurate reporters of events, even down to the annual awards their staff and contract photographers received for their coverage of world events - that photo long ago of a young girl on the road as people fled a conflict zone in Vietnam, or Korea, or Serbia, or... (repeated so many times in recent decades!)
Most recently, the photos that made everyone sit up and listen to the plight of the refugees fleeing into Europe and elsewhere: a border guard playing peekaboo with a young girl in the middle of the road, the body of a little boy washed up on a beach...
How much do we take for granted what we read and see, how much of what we are fed is real?
12 people like this
11 responses
@Bluedoll (16770)
• Canada
20 Sep 15
@pgntwo Don't you find much of it repetitive? They go over the same material like a commercial then updating to make more revenue. Once things settle down it goes to another news source and unless you dig might never know how things evolved. By that time 20 more stories has been poured out like skimmed milk.
What do you think the solution is?
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
20 Sep 15
@Bluedoll The repetition is in there to make sure the channel-hoppers get a chance to be brought up to date... making it more likely that you'll hop to another channel, exacerbating the problem.
You hit on the answer yourself, indirectly: "unless you dig". Store the information, everything that is known about an event, in a searchable space so that when time is available, you can go and catch up on the events of the past 10mins/hours/days...
Make it "pull" rather than "push", and the news can be condensed to the ticker-tape type streams of information already common along the bottom of the TV screen, as a prompt that something has happened to make you move from watch mode into seek/searchmode.
The ticker tape needs to be in one place, not splashed all over every available piece of screen or display, which only serves to desensitise people.
Perhaps.
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
20 Sep 15
That is a good question. I know much of what is seen and heard in broadcast news is ephemeral, fleeting - until something big happens and then the news overdoses on it from every possible angle for a few days. There does not appear to be much middle ground any more.
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
18 Sep 15
Very little of what we see has ever been completely truthful. But I think these days much less of the truth is attached to any particular news story or photograph. The media is more interested in shaping opinion than in informing the masses. The truth of stories sometimes emerges later, sometimes not. The public is happiest when lied to, anyway, so they never demand better.
3 people like this
@GreatMartin (23670)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
20 Sep 15
Investigative reporting is now 'entertainment'--photos are photo shopped so one doesn't know what is real or not. Right now in the USA we have a huge scandal regarding videos that were 'edited'--we are told/shown what 'they' (whoever they are) want us to see/read/hear.
One has to do a lot of reading, seeing many web pages, reading many points of view and then, maybe, we will get a glimpse of the truth.
One has to do a lot of reading, seeing many web pages, reading many points of view and then, maybe, we will get a glimpse of the truth.2 people like this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
26 Sep 15
I'm a bit gullible on believing what I read on places like mylot and facebook etc, because i'm honest..., so I think everyone else is.... but I am more careful these days.... but I am more suspicious of the press, and news items and especially photographs....
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
19 Oct 15
To tell you the truth not much of it at all. When I do post here I post real events and the truth about what happened I personally get sick of reading crap and lies online. Plus now with all the photo editing software who\s to say these images are real or not.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
19 Oct 15
@pgntwo Agree with you totally. Not long ago some picture went viral on the internet. Not long after this the person admitted it was redone with photo shop. Now today when I look at an image I don't always think it's real. That's why I like to use my own images as much as I can in different posts online. I know mine are real and not enhanced with photoshop or some other photo editing software.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
18 Sep 15
love the cartoon and it is all too accurate. A great deal of baloney passes for truth on sites like Facebook and especially in chatrooms
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
13 Jan 16
I believe everything in print now is "adjusted" to show the views/shape our views the direction the government wants us to believe/see/understand. We are fed pap and burped and the American public peacefully sleep without caring what our government does in our names.
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
22 Sep 15
At least a lot of what I say is true on here. I even look up the facts if I'm not sure of the details exactly. As for my profile images, they are true, but not timely. No one wants to see my face as it is today!
1 person likes this
