Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Misinformation presented as fact, called Fake News, has become an everyday norm. News has always been closely associated with entertainment so it's not such a big surprise that it's become entertainment. In fact, there's a significant portion of the news that's about the news: ratings, the newscasters, whether it's biased. The news is making the news more than real news is. Now, like tabloids, news broadcasters even make up the news; there's no distinction between opinion and fact, hoaxes, false stories, glaring omissions, non-reporting, and strategic denials. Overall, there's a general lack of dispassionate reporting so that viewers can decide for themselves.

Fake News is so prevalent today because people want to be told lies, especially by newscasters who insist they aren't lies. Viewers revel in the sense of satisfaction & schadenfreude, and the rush from envy, resentment & anger. These are the same feelings entertainment triggers, but are magnified by being presented as real and immediate. Fake News is ubiquitous because it's the natural state of news, and what inevitably happens. There doesn't have to be an evil cabal with a nefarious plan to take over the world by using the news to indoctrinate people; it's simply the form of self-affirming entertainment viewers are lusting for.