e102. News by Meme

Newspapers are a dying breed in the twenty-first century. This isn’t a new thing; it’s been happening for a while. But at this point, more than just newspapers are dying. Even news programming is dying. Sure, cable news networks are huge. And sure… they’re on the internet as well. But, the problem is that on the internet in 2020 more people get their news from posts to Facebook and Twitter than anywhere else. And many people have curated their news to match the opinions they’ve already had. That’s on a good day. On a day, they’re just getting whatever random forwards their friends have with no real level of quality control than ever. People get their news from memes. Sometimes this means articles that have incorrect facts. Often, people don’t read the articles at all, and just rely on what they can glean from a click bait headline. And sometimes, there’s no article at all… just a random quote on a random stock image from google, that could have been photoshopped together by a maniac with two seconds thought. Again, this isn’t new, but in the wake of the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the issue is becoming more important… and problematic than ever. Faulty information can quite literally cost lives. On this week’s episode, Hannah, Wayne and Mav are joined by journalist Tony Norman to discuss the ways in which news by meme propagates, the dangers, the importance of fact checking and how this all fits together in today pandemic-world. Join us and let us know what you think. Citations and Links: * This episode’s Call for Comments * “No Matter What Some Public Officials Say, the Message You Need to Hear Is ‘Stay Home‘” by Charles Ornstein * The CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) page * Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme * Follow Tony Norman on Twitter: @tonynormanPG * Read Tony’s column at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette * Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick * Follow Wayne on Instagram: @tetroc2017 * Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: http://chrismaverick.com * Follow Wayne’s Personal Blog: http://wayne-wise.com * Buy Wayne’s comics on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QFAEZr and