• @[email protected]
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    311 months ago

    That’s why you see multiple sides. If what Shapiro is saying doesn’t jive with what you’ve heard on other sources (liberal, neutral, etc), then you’ll doubt it.

    I mean, maybe? How is the hypothetical omni-consumer supposed to suss out which ones are legitimate? Especially when the propaganda is engineered to appeal emotionally.

    It’s a lot of work to go and unpack something that’s deliberately designed to mislead you. That’s why I do not recommend casually consuming media like this guy. You’re not going to know when he’s just lying, and you might not notice the subtle misleads like a chart with a cropped y axis. It’s all going to slot into your brain as “Oh yeah I heard [racist quasi-fact] somewhere”

    Like if someone says “More blacks are arrested for crimes” that just completely ignores unequal enforcement as a factor. A casual listener isn’t going to think about that. Especially not when it’s packaged in a slick fast talking youtube video.

    Some sources are garbage and shouldn’t be consumed without the equivalent of a hazmat suit.

    The main problem is that many people don’t look at multiple sources.

    The main problems are the right wing is trending hard towards authortiarian fascism, and our capitalist hellscape doesn’t do a great job of promoting truth and education. Hot takes get clicks even if they’re wrong on numerous metrics. Clicks get money. Money is power. Power is what matters. Being factually correct or having beliefs that promote better outcomes for whatever metrics you care for isn’t as important as making money.

    • @[email protected]
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      -211 months ago

      It’s a lot of work to go and unpack something that’s deliberately designed to mislead you

      I agree. Unfortunately, it seems like everything is trying to mislead me these days, so the choice is to either combat it or pick which side I’d prefer to mislead me.

      Hot takes get clicks

      That happens all over the spectrum. The best solution isn’t to try to shut out media from one side (then you’ll overcorrect to biases from your preferred side), but to look for popular media from a variety of sides so you can start to notice the BS in more places.

      That’s why I periodically listen to Ben Shapiro, Sam Seder, and other political commentators, to understand what the various sides are saying. I try to avoid clear nonsense like Alex Jones that’s just spewing hate, but otherwise try to get a good sample.

      If a media source sounds more like one extreme than another, I know to look things up and perhaps find an alternative source. Even major, trusted publications have biases, so it’s good to be able to detect that.