Reason and Justice
  • Seek the Truth
  • Who We Are
  • Get In Touch
  • Contribute
  • Seek the Truth
  • Who We Are
  • Get In Touch
  • Contribute



Background on the stories that make national news

​
   

Why has government been instituted at all? ​Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.
   ~ ​Alexander Hamilton









​
Photo by Andrew Horne

Denzel Washington - "Don't Just Be First ... Tell the Truth"

12/13/2016

0 Comments

 
A completely false story about Denzel Washington spread far and wide on multiple “news” outlets – and on Facebook - in 2016. The story originated on a website called “American News 24” (Anews24.org) and attributed a quote from Charles Evers, brother of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, to Washington. The quote had been lifted from a story in the New York Post. The fake news website presented the false information that Washington was supporting Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. (Washington did not endorse any presidential candidate in the election.)

The story spread from the original fake news site to multiple fake news sites, including one called “Breitbartt” (not the “real” site, with one "t" at the end, which contains much suspect so-called news, but did not carry this fake story). One Facebook post, which labeled the story fake news, noted that the post had already been shared 10,000 times in 6 hours. (There were multiple Facebook posts, presumably being shared a similar number of times.)

​Denzel Washington spoke about the fake news story at a screening of the film "Fences" on December 7. He reminded the media to take seriously the responsibility to report correctly – not just quickly. (Presumably he was taking to task the television and print news organizations, rather than fake news sites like the one that targeted him.)

The video clip of Washington, in which he shares a quote sometimes incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain – “If you don’t read the newspaper you’re uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you’re misinformed” – has now been shared on multiple sites and is being used by some as an indictment of legitimate news sources.

Context matters. In this case, a video clip of Denzel Washington, an intelligent, credible spokesperson, whose reputation was harmed by a fake news source, is now being used to harm the reputation of legitimate news sources.
​
The original fake news article is cited in this Washington Post article.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/14/denzel-washington-endorsed-trump-according-to-americanews-breitbartt-usanewshome-and-facebook/?utm_term=.531471da9f13

The Snopes article can be found here.
http://www.snopes.com/denzel-washington-switches-trump/

The Denzel Washington video clip can be seen here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWNE2ih9wKY

​Here is a list from RealClearPolitics of various quotes attributed, correctly and incorrectly, to Mark Twain.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/12/10/fake_twain_quotes_and_other_hazards_of_twitter_116376-3.html
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Truth is a real thing.

    Archives

    November 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    Categories

    All
    2016 Election
    Aleksander Kogan
    Alpha Omega Winery
    Backchannel
    Bots
    Breitbart
    Cambridge Analytica
    Charlottesville
    Cozy Bear
    Department Of Justice
    Devin Nunes
    Donald Trump
    Don McGahn
    Dutch Intelligence
    Facebook
    Fact-checking Trump
    Fancy Bear
    FISA
    Fusion GPS
    Gates
    Glenn Simpson
    Global Warminig
    Gregory Kennedy
    GRU
    Gun Rights Rally
    Haiti
    Hate Groups
    Helskinki
    House Intelligence
    House Of Representatives
    Hurricane Maria
    Indicment
    Internet Research Agency
    James Comey
    Jared Kushner
    Jefferson Beauregard Sessions
    Justice Kennedy
    Justin Kennedy
    King Abdullah II
    Magnitsky Act
    Manafort
    Mariia Butina
    Mark Zuckerberg
    Mercer
    Michael Avenatti
    Michael Cohen
    Michael Flynn
    Mogilevich
    Money Laundering
    Mueller Investigation
    National Rifle Association
    Nuclear Deal
    Obstruction Of Justice
    Oleg Deripaska
    Organized Crime
    Papadopoulos
    President Trump
    Puerto Rico
    Reince Priebus
    Renaissance Technologies
    Rod Rosenstein
    Russian Interference
    Russian Trolls
    Ryan Zinke
    Senate Intelligence
    Senate Judiciary
    Senator Feinstein
    Social Media
    Steve Bannon
    Stormy Daniels
    Supreme Court
    Torshin
    Treasury Department
    Trolls
    Trump Jupiter National Golf Club
    Trump Lawsuit
    Trump Organization
    Trump-Putin
    Trump Transition
    Turkey
    Twitter
    U.S. Treasury Department
    Whitefish
    White Supremacy

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly