What is Fake News? | 5 Minute Video

Summary

The video script critiques mainstream American news as inherently biased towards the left, arguing that this bias turns factual reporting into leftist propaganda. It highlights the influence of political affiliations in media leadership and the disproportionate representation of Democrats among journalists. Andrew Klavan outlines three rules illustrating how mainstream media can turn any story into 'Fake News', including cherry-picking events to fit a narrative, focusing on the source of scandals rather than the scandals themselves, and highlighting right-wing extremists while ignoring left-wing extremism. The script concludes that mainstream media often confirms its own prejudices, regardless of the facts, which equates to Fake News.

Takeaways

• 🗣️ The speaker argues that mainstream American news is perceived as 'Fake News' due to consistent left-leaning bias.
• 📺 Major news outlets like ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN are accused of being leftist propaganda despite their factual reporting.
• 👥 The speaker points out that the leadership of these networks has connections to the Democratic party, suggesting a potential for bias.
• 📊 Only 7% of American journalists identify as Republican, indicating a possible lack of ideological diversity in newsrooms.
• 💰 There is a claim that 96% of journalists who donated to political candidates gave to Hillary Clinton, hinting at a partisan inclination.
• 🤔 The speaker questions the journalists' ability to be objective, citing psychological concepts like groupthink and confirmation bias.
• 📝 Andrew Klavan's Three Rules of Mainstream Media Journalism are introduced to illustrate how bias can transform any story into 'Fake News'.
• 🚨 Rule One suggests that single events confirming left-wing prejudices are treated as representative, while contradicting events are considered isolated.
• 🔍 Rule Two highlights that scandals on the right become the focus, whereas on the left, the focus shifts to who disclosed the scandal.
• 🌐 Rule Three points out that individual right-wing extremists are highlighted, while left-wing extremism is largely ignored.
• 📰 The speaker criticizes the media for convicting individuals based on narrative rather than facts, as exemplified by the Duke lacrosse case.
• 📈 The narrative of mainstream media is often aligned with left-wing ideologies, regardless of factual accuracy, leading to 'Fake News'.

Q & A

What is the main argument presented in the video script regarding mainstream American news?

The main argument is that mainstream American news is considered 'fake' due to a perceived consistent bias towards the left, which the speaker believes affects the overall reportage, turning it into leftist propaganda.

What is the speaker's view on the balance of viewership between right-wing and left-wing news outlets?

The speaker claims that left-wing news outlets like ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN have almost ten times the viewers compared to right-wing Fox News.

What examples does the speaker provide to illustrate potential biases within news organizations?

The speaker cites examples such as George Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton operative, being the chief journalist at ABC, and David Rhodes, brother of a former senior Obama staffer, being the president of CBS News.

According to the speaker, what is the political affiliation of most American journalists?

The speaker states that only seven percent of American journalists identify as Republican.

What is the significance of the statistic that 96 percent of journalists who donated to candidates gave to Hillary Clinton?

This statistic is used to argue that there is a strong political bias among journalists, suggesting that their donations may influence their reporting.

What psychological concepts does the speaker refer to in relation to journalists' objectivity?

The speaker refers to 'groupthink' and 'confirmation bias' to explain how journalists may lose their ability to see events clearly due to associating primarily with those who agree with them.

What are Andrew Klavan's 'Three Rules of Mainstream Media Journalism' as mentioned in the script?

The three rules are: 1) Left-wing prejudices are confirmed by single events treated as representative, while contradictions are treated as isolated incidents. 2) When a scandal breaks on the right, it's the news; on the left, the focus is on who disclosed the information. 3) Individual right-wing extremists are highlighted, while left-wing extremism is ignored.

How does the speaker describe the media's treatment of a white cop shooting a black suspect?

The speaker claims that the media treats such an event as representative of general police racism, despite studies showing that police do not use deadly force more often on blacks than on whites.

What is the speaker's criticism of the media's handling of scandals involving different political affiliations?

The speaker criticizes the media for focusing on the scandal itself when it involves the right, but shifting the focus to the disclosure of the scandal when it involves the left.

What example does the speaker provide to illustrate the media's different treatment of right-wing and left-wing movements?

The speaker contrasts the media's portrayal of the Tea Party, which was labeled as racist and violent despite being peaceful, with the Occupy Wall Street movement, which was hailed as an important social development despite its violent and vandalizing nature.

What does the speaker imply about the mainstream media's adherence to a left-wing narrative, regardless of the facts?

The speaker implies that the mainstream media often prioritizes a left-wing narrative, even if the facts do not support it, which they refer to as 'Fake News'.

Outlines

00:00

📰 Bias in Mainstream Media Reporting

The paragraph discusses the pervasive issue of perceived 'Fake News', arguing that mainstream American news is biased towards the left. It suggests that major news outlets, despite reporting factual stories, are essentially propagating leftist ideologies due to their consistent left-leaning bias. The author cites examples of connections between news organizations and political figures, and the disproportionate number of journalists identifying as Democrats. The paragraph also highlights the psychological phenomenon of groupthink and confirmation bias, which can skew the reporting of journalists. Andrew Klavan's 'Three Rules of Mainstream Media Journalism' are introduced to illustrate how even true stories can be manipulated to fit a narrative, thus becoming 'Fake News'.

05:04

🔍 Confirmation Bias and the Impact of Media Narratives

This paragraph continues the discussion on media bias, emphasizing the concept of 'confirming one's own prejudices' as a form of 'Fake News'. Andrew Klavan, the speaker, critiques the mainstream media for its tendency to confirm its own narratives, often at the expense of accurate reporting. He concludes the video script by reiterating the issue of bias in news reporting and introduces himself as the speaker for Prager University, reinforcing the message that media narratives can be misleading and misrepresentative of the truth.

Keywords

💡Fake News

Fake News refers to false information or propaganda presented as news. In the video's context, it is used to criticize mainstream media for being biased, with the speaker arguing that even if the stories reported are factual, the overall narrative is skewed towards a leftist perspective. The term is repeatedly used to emphasize the perceived dishonesty in media reporting.

💡Bias

Bias denotes a preference or inclination towards one particular perspective or group. The video suggests that major news outlets have a consistent left-leaning bias, which affects the way news is reported and interpreted. The bias is seen as a source of 'Fake News' because it influences the selection and presentation of news stories.

💡Groupthink

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon where people in a group avoid critical evaluation of ideas due to a desire for conformity. The script implies that journalists, by associating mainly with like-minded individuals, fall into groupthink, leading to confirmation bias and a loss of objectivity in reporting.

💡Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to favor information that confirms one's existing beliefs or values. The video argues that journalists, due to their own political leanings, are subject to this bias, which results in the selective reporting of events that align with their preconceived notions.

💡Mainstream Media

Mainstream Media refers to the dominant news outlets that reach a large audience. The script criticizes these outlets for their alleged left-wing bias, suggesting that their collective influence shapes public opinion in a particular direction, which the speaker deems to be problematic.

💡Propaganda

Propaganda is information, often biased or misleading, used to promote a political cause or point of view. In the video, the term is used to describe the perceived intent behind the mainstream media's reporting, which is accused of spreading a leftist narrative.

💡Andrew Klavan's Three Rules

These are rules outlined by Andrew Klavan to illustrate how mainstream media journalism can transform any story into 'Fake News'. The rules highlight specific patterns in reporting that the speaker believes contribute to media bias and the creation of a false narrative.

💡Cherry-Picking

Cherry-picking is the act of selectively choosing information to support a particular position. The video uses this term to accuse the media of choosing events that fit a larger narrative while ignoring those that contradict it, thus creating a one-sided view of reality.

💡Scandal

A scandal refers to a situation or event that brings about disgrace or offends moral or societal standards. The script suggests that the media's focus on scandals is politically motivated, with different standards applied depending on whether the scandal involves the left or the right.

💡Extremism

Extremism is the holding of extreme political or religious views. The video argues that the media highlights individual extremists on the right while downplaying or ignoring the extremism of the left, creating a distorted representation of political movements.

💡Narrative

A narrative is a story or account of events, often constructed to serve a particular purpose. In the context of the video, the term is used to describe the overarching story or message that the media is accused of promoting, which the speaker believes is not always supported by the facts.

Highlights

The argument that mainstream American news is biased towards the left, affecting the overall reportage as leftist propaganda.

Comparison of right-wing Fox News to left-leaning ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN in viewership.

Political affiliations of major news network executives and their potential influence on news reporting.

Ownership and political leanings of media corporations owning news outlets.

Low percentage of American journalists identifying as Republican and their political donations' bias.

Psychological impact on journalists' objectivity due to groupthink and confirmation bias.

Andrew Klavan's Three Rules of Mainstream Media Journalism and their implications on news reporting.

Rule One: Confirmation of left-wing prejudices in news events treated as representative, while contradictions are seen as isolated incidents.

Rule Two: Scandal focus shifts from the event to the disclosure when it involves the left, versus the scandal itself when it involves the right.

Rule Three: Highlighting individual right-wing extremists while ignoring left-wing extremism as a whole.

Media portrayal of the Tea Party as racist versus the positive coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The narrative-driven approach of the media over factual accuracy, as exemplified by the Duke University lacrosse case.

The tendency of mainstream media to confirm left-wing narratives regardless of factual support.

The definition and critique of 'Fake News' as presented by Andrew Klavan.

Andrew Klavan's closing statement emphasizing the prevalence of bias in mainstream media reporting.

Transcripts

You’ve probably heard a lot of people recently screaming and yelling about Fake News.

Charges fly from all points on the political spectrum: this story is mistaken — it’s Fake News;

that statement is incorrect — it’s Fake News.

But to my mind, these arguments miss the point.

Mainstream American news is ALL fake because the major news outlets are so consistently

biased toward the left that whether any given story they report is factual or not, their

overall reportage is essentially leftist propaganda.

You can complain about the right-wing slant of Fox News all you want, but left-wing ABC,

CBS, NBC, MSNBC and CNN have, combined, almost ten times the viewers.

Look, the chief journalist at ABC is former Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos; the

president of CBS News is David Rhodes, the brother of a former senior Obama staffer.

Comcast, which owns NBC, is run by a major Democrat donor.

Same for the leadership at CBS and Time Warner, which owns CNN.

Only seven percent of American journalists identify as Republican.

And while a lot of news outlets forbid their reporters to donate to candidates, 96 percent

of those who did donate last time out gave to Hillary Clinton.

These journalists claim that despite the fact they’re all Democrats, they can be objective.

It just ain’t so.

Psychologists have shown that when people associate almost exclusively with those who

agree with them, they suffer from groupthink and confirmation bias and lose their ability

to see events clearly.

Now, it’s not that these journalists are liars, exactly – it’s that their bias

skews their reporting in very specific ways.

Let me give you Andrew Klavan’s Three Rules of Mainstream Media Journalism.

These can transform any story, whether it’s true or not, into Fake News.

Rule Number One: Whenever left-wing prejudices are confirmed

by a single event, that event is treated as representative.

But whenever left-wing prejudices are contradicted by a single event, that event is treated as

an isolated incident – and if you treat it as representative, you are deemed to be hateful.

So, for instance, a white cop shoots a black suspect.

The mainstream media treats that story as representative of general police racism

even though studies show cops don’t use deadly force more often on blacks than on whites.

On the other hand, if a Muslim commits an act of terrorism, and someone is bold enough

to point out that the terrorist act is, in fact, representative of the daily acts of

Muslim terror around the world, this is considered Islamophobic.

The leftist media cherry-picks when an event illustrates a larger narrative.

That’s Fake News.

Rule Number Two: When a scandal breaks on the right, the news

is the scandal.

When a scandal breaks on the left, the news is: who wrongfully disclosed

that scandalous information?

Thus, when the media wanted to raise suspicions that Donald Trump was somehow in league with

the Russians, they freely quoted illegally leaked information from intelligence sources.

But when Congressman Devin Nunes announced he had information that the Obama administration

might have misused intelligence against Donald Trump’s transition team, the story became:

How did Nunes get that information?

And did he do it legally?

The scandal meter is heavily weighted to fall to the right.

Fake News.

Rule Number Three: Individual extremists on the right are highlighted,

but the overall extremism of the left is ignored.

In one of the fakest Fake News stories in recent history, the mainstream media rose

up as one to tar conservative Tea Party members as racist, when all they really wanted were

lower taxes and less government spending.

Reporters gave the Tea Party disparaging nicknames; represented their almost universally peaceful

gatherings as “ugly” and “violent”; and whenever an individual Tea Partier said

something wrong, it was cited as evidence that the movement itself was tainted.

Meanwhile, the continually violent, vandalizing, anti-Semitic socialist movement that went

by the name of Occupy Wall Street was hailed by journalists as an important social development

right up to the moment it vanished without a trace

(except for the piles of litter its protesters left behind).

Peaceful Tea Partiers wanted the small government prescribed by the Constitution, so they were radicals;

violent Occupiers wanted the widespread government intrusion of socialism,

so they were heroes.

Very Fake News.

Newsweek Editor Evan Thomas was once criticized when his magazine essentially convicted some

white Duke University lacrosse players of raping a black woman — a rape, it turns out,

they did not commit – because it didn’t happen.

Thomas defended himself, saying, “The narrative was right, but the facts were wrong.”

The mainstream media almost always get their left-wing narrative right, whether the facts

support it or not.

That’s called confirming your own prejudices.

It’s called bias.

It’s called Fake News.

I’m Andrew Klavan for Prager University.