Evolution of Fake News

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Genesis 11:6-7

And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.”

(ESV)

The account in Scripture of the Tower of Babel is an example of what can occur when sinful humans have consolidated power (Genesis11:1-9).  God had just finished destroying all humanity except for Noah and his family with a flood with the purpose of ridding the world of evil (Genesis 6:1-8).  Now we see the descendants of Noah beginning the process of combining their evil intentions.  Instead of bringing another destructive flood, God breaks up their consolidation of evil by confounding their language. 

I see a similarity to this breaking up of consolidated power with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution where the founders granted citizens freedom of speech, freedom to practice their religion, and freedom of the press.  Their greatest fear was that the new government would become like the tyrannical regime they had fought for independence from.  They understood that if the new government could consolidate power and control the means of communication, it could eliminate the liberties they had fought for.  (1) 

The confounding of language as a means of ending the consolidation of global evil by God is still in effect as evidenced by the many languages still in existence in the world today.  However, the belief that the freedom of speech, religion, and press in the first amendment would prevent consolidation of governmental power is under threat today.  Left unchecked, this threat could allow government control of the means of communication and aid in advancing their antiliberty liberal and progressive agenda.  However, its once powerful stranglehold on communication control is breaking up.

I grew up during the late 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.  As such I recall when there were only three television networks each having an evening news program.  With only three network programs where people received most of their news, it was easy for politicians to have control over the dissemination of information the public received.  During this time the media helped Kennedy win election to the presidency through the imagery of the first televised debates. (2) They were also able to stoke antiwar sentiment resulting in animus against military veterans who served and gave their lives defending the country in Vietnam. (3) In the 70’s media was able to force a president to resign under the controversy of Watergate.  (4)

In the 80’s however, a new phenomenon, and innovative technology entered the scene that broke up this media conglomerate.  The phenomenon is talk radio and cable news, mainly Fox news, the internet, and now social media. 

1)      Emergence of talk radio and cable news (5) (6) – Prior to talk radio and cable news, people waited until returning home from work to get the news of the day.  With the emergence of these new media, people already knew what had happened in the news prior to the evening news broadcasts and this news often came with a more conservative spin in contradiction to the liberal progressive spin people heard from the big three networks.  The medias conglomeration of power over communication of facts was beginning to crumble.  

2)      Internet and blogs (7) – Blogging and the internet further opened the media door by giving ordinary people, like myself, a media outlet from which to practice freedom of speech, religion, and press.  The once consolidated media empire takes another hit.

3)      Social media (8) – One of the major complaints offered by people in traditional media is President Trump’s use of Twitter.  While at time he does tweet things that he should not have said, he sees Twitter as a means of communicating directly with the people he swore to lead as President.  I believe traditional media is most upset by his tweeting because it represents the final nail in the coffin of their once strong consolidated control over communication. 

While it is comforting to see media control of communication breaking up, there is another consolidation of power harming the country.  I am speaking of the threat represented by the liberal consolidation of power that exists in education.  That will be our discussion next Saturday. 

1. Urban, Joe. What is the purpose of the First Amendment and why is it important? www.quora.com. [Online] Quora. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-purpose-of-the-First-Amendment-and-why-is-it-important.

2. Webley, Kala. How the Nixon-Kennedy Debate Changed the World. content.tome.com. [Online] Time, September 23, 2010. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2021078,00.html.

3. Alpha History. The Anti-War Movement. alphahistory.com. [Online] Alpha History. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] http://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/anti-war-movement/.

4. Schudson, Michael. When the media had enough: Watergate, Vietnam and the birth of the adversarial press. www.salon.com. [Online] Salon, October 10, 2015. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] https://www.salon.com/2015/10/10/when_the_media_had_enough_watergate_vietnam_and_the_birth_of_the_adversarial_press/.

5. PBS. Overview: The Rise of Talk Radio. www.pbs.org. [Online] PBS, July 12, 2005. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] http://www.pbs.org/pov/thefirenexttime/overview-the-rise-of-talk-radio/.

6. Ray, Michael. Fox News Channel. www.britannica.com. [Online] Encyclopedia Britannica, October 23, 2017. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fox-News-Channel.

7. webdesignerdepot.com. A Brief History of Blogging. www.webdesignerdepot.com. [Online] webdesignerdepot.com. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/03/a-brief-history-of-blogging/.

8. Omowole, Agbolade. Why Social media threatens traditional media. www.vanguardngr.com. [Online] Vanguard, October 13, 2015. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] https://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/why-social-media-threatens-traditional-media/.