Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
OTHER VIEWS
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
MARISSA WILLIAMS
Regional Advertising Director
MARCY ROSENBERG
Circulation Manager
JANNA HEIMGARTNER
Business Office Manager
MIKE JENSEN
Production Manager
OUR VIEW
Fake news fixation
has the power to
reshape our world
An early scene in George
Orwell’s legendary dystopian novel
“1984” has the main character
rewriting history to suit a repressive
government’s political agenda. What
we actually have in 2016, 32 years
after the Orwell’s fictional world, is
a news environment in which private
citizens and those who want to
manipulate us can create, share and
often believe fake news — fictions
that have the power to reshape our
government.
Newspapers and other “legacy”
organizations don’t have a
monopoly on the truth. We are prone
to our own biases — often a nearly
unconscious belief in moderate
politics and incremental change for
the common good. Even so, we are
traditionally reliable curators of the
news, providing a record of the facts
that is literally printed in black and
white. Falsehoods and biases are
fairly easily spotted and challenged.
A newspaper that too often blatantly
disregards the facts doesn’t stay
long in business. Those that have
longevity have done so by building
credibility within the communities
they serve and keeping it on a daily
basis by diligently working to
separate fact from fiction.
Slippery do-it-yourself news of
the kind so commonly found on
Facebook isn’t so easily policed
or punished by the marketplace. It
has neither cost nor consequences.
In fact, as Americans increasingly
seek validation rather than objective
information, there are rewards for
even flagrant lies online, so long as
they achieve enough popularity to
be shared among people with like
beliefs.
“People most readily believe
that which they can believe
most conveniently,” Cliffs Notes
observes in its essay about “1984.”
This is almost the definition of
modern U.S. politics, in which
many Americans choose to believe
or disbelieve stories based on
complicated personal and political
preconceptions.
It is a fact of modern life that
more Americans get information
from Facebook posts than directly
from the entities that actually do the
hard work of fact-gathering. If you
have friends with diverse political
beliefs and levels of education, you
are certain to encounter Facebook
posts with conflicting reports on
climate change, immigration,
terrorism or many other hot issues.
There was, for example, a posting
last week that boldly asserted
Donald Trump overwhelming
won the popular vote, despite the
objective fact that the opposite is
true.
Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg has struggled with a
response to widespread accusations
that his company aided and abetted
the dispersal of falsehoods that
warped the outcome of the 2016
presidential election. In essence,
his problem is how to maintain
Facebook as a freewheeling
marketplace for ideas, while
somehow not allowing it to be
an easily manipulated stooge that
regurgitates lies that are packaged in
superficially believable ways.
After initially denying it
was the problem, Facebook
now reportedly is looking into
third-party verification services,
better automated detection tools
and simpler ways for users to flag
suspicious content.
In a Nov. 18 column in The New
York Times, John Herrman notes
that these fake news items are
“indefensible, easy to identify and
extraordinarily viral.” The bigger
problem, in his opinion, is the
more subtle manipulation of people
through a clever blending of out-of-
context “facts” that mesh with
reader biases and preconceptions.
Herrman is pessimistic about
Facebook actually correcting a
profitable system in which its
members get to decide on alternative
versions of reality. “Those who
expect the operator of the dominant
media ecosystem of our time,
in response to getting caught
promoting lies, to suddenly return
authority to the companies it has
superseded are in for a … surprise,”
he observed.
Even on Facebook, it is possible
to be a sophisticated news consumer.
Double check the credibility of
sources and look for stories by
organizations that have a direct
financial and reputational stake in
being reliable.
Ultimately, there actually is
a true version of the facts. Any
community that wants to play for
real and actually succeed can best do
so by embracing reality. Facts, not
fantasies, are the path to success.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of publisher
Kathryn Brown, managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, and opinion page editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
Why corruption matters
R
emember all the news reports
an answer. Part of this is ideology,
suggesting, without evidence,
but it’s also true that vouchers might
that the Clinton Foundation’s
eventually find their way to for-profit
fundraising created conflicts of
educational institutions.
interest? Well, now the man who
And the track record of for-profit
benefited from all that innuendo is
education is truly terrible; the Obama
on his way to the White House. And
administration has been cracking
he’s already giving us an object lesson
down on the scams that infest the
in what real conflicts of interest look
industry. But things will be different
Paul
like, as authoritarian governments
Krugman now: For-profit education stocks
around the world shower favors on his
soared after the election. Two, three,
Comment
business empire.
many Trump Universities!
Of course, Donald Trump could be
Moving on, I’ve already written
rejecting these favors and separating himself
about the Trump infrastructure plan, which
and his family from his hotels and so on.
for no obvious reason involves widespread
But he isn’t. In fact, he’s openly using his
privatization of public assets. No obvious
position to drum up business. And his early
reason, that is, except the huge opportunities
appointments suggest that he won’t be the
for cronyism and profiteering that would be
only player using political
opened up.
power to build personal
But what’s truly scary
wealth. Self-dealing will be
is the potential impact of
the norm throughout this
corruption on foreign policy.
administration. America
Again, foreign governments
has just entered an era of
are already trying to buy
unprecedented corruption at
influence by adding to
the top.
Trump’s personal wealth, and
The question you need to
he is welcoming their efforts.
ask is why this matters. Hint:
In case you’re wondering,
It’s not the money, it’s the
yes, this is illegal, in fact
incentives.
unconstitutional, a clear
True, we could be talking
violation of the emoluments
about a lot of money — think
clause. But who’s going to
billions, not millions, to
enforce the Constitution?
Trump alone (which is why
Republicans in Congress?
his promise not to take
Don’t be silly.
his salary is a sick joke).
Destruction of democratic
But America is a very rich
norms aside, however, think
country, whose government
about the tilt this de facto
spends more than $4 trillion a year, so even
bribery will give to U.S. policy. What kind
large-scale looting amounts to rounding error. of regime can buy influence by enriching
What’s important is not the money that sticks
the president and his friends? The answer is,
to the fingers of the inner circle, but what they only a government that doesn’t adhere to the
do to get that money, and the bad policy that
rule of law.
results.
Think about it: Could Britain or Canada
Normally, policy reflects some
curry favor with the incoming administration
combination of practicality — what works? — by waiving regulations to promote Trump
and ideology — what fits my preconceptions? golf courses or directing business to
And our usual complaint is that ideology all
Trump hotels? No — those nations have
too often overrules the evidence.
free presses, independent courts, and rules
But now we’re going to see a third factor
designed to prevent exactly that kind of
powerfully at work: What policies can
improper behavior. On the other hand,
officials, very much including the man at the
someplace like Vladimir Putin’s Russia can
top, personally monetize? And the effect will
easily funnel vast sums to the man at the top
be disastrous.
in return for, say, the withdrawal of security
Let’s start relatively small, with the choice
guarantees for the Baltic states.
of Betsy DeVos as education secretary. DeVos
One would like to hope that national
has some obvious affinities with Trump: Her
security officials are explaining to Trump just
husband is an heir to the fortune created by
how destructive it would be to let business
Amway, a company that has been accused of
considerations drive foreign policy. But
being a fraudulent scheme and, in 2011, paid reports say that Trump has barely met with
$150 million to settle a class-action suit. But
those officials, refusing to get the briefings
what’s really striking is her signature issue,
that are normal for a president-elect.
school vouchers, in which parents are given
So how bad will the effects of Trump-era
money rather than having their children
corruption be? The best guess is, worse than
receive a public education.
you can possibly imagine.
At this point there’s a lot of evidence on
■
how well school vouchers actually work,
Paul Krugman joined The New York
and it’s basically damning. For example,
Times in 1999 as a columnist on the
Louisiana’s extensive voucher plan
Op-Ed Page and continues as professor
unambiguously reduced student achievement. of Economics and International Affairs at
But voucher advocates won’t take no for
Princeton University.
What kind of
regime can buy
influence by
enriching the
president and
his friends? The
answer is, only a
government that
doesn’t adhere to
the rule of law.
Culture corner
crutinizing a remote cornfield
for clues to where in the world it
is located presents the ultimate
challenge for geography buffs in the
online game Geoguessr.
The game virtually drops players
into a random image on Google
Street View and asks them to figure
out where in the
world they are.
Google is
allowed, as are
translation apps
and any other
resource a player
can think of. When a player thinks
they know where they are, or when
the timer is about to run out, they
drop a pin on a world map. Points
are awarded based on how close the
digital pin is to the actual real-world
location.
Sometimes, the answer is easy,
as a quick look around a city street
reveals several business and street
names. Other times players spend
two minutes scrolling down a lonely
rural road looking for signs before
desperately Googling “purple flowers
S
along mountain road” and dropping
a last-minute pin somewhere in the
middle of Canada. It’s always a little
embarrassing if it turns out the road
was actually in Russia.
The game comes in an untimed
single player mode or timed
two-player challenge mode. Playing in
challenge mode
with a friend in
the same room
or connected
to Skype is the
best way to
play. It gives the
opportunity to laugh about how far off
you both were, or do a little bragging
about your sleuthing skills when your
challenger asks how in the world you
figured out the location was in France.
The game is also educational — the
more you play, the more you begin to
recognize the distinctive guard rails,
traffic signs and road striping patterns
of various countries.
To play Geoguessr, create a login at
www.geoguessr.com.
— Jade McDowell is a reporter for
the East Oregonian.
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper
reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must
be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send
letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.