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| Topic: Fact v Opinion | |
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Only a quarter of U.S. adults in a recent survey could fully identify factual statements - as opposed to opinion - in news stories, the Pew Research Center found in a study released on Monday.
The survey comes amid growing concerns about so-called fake news spread on the internet and social media. The term generally refers to fabricated news that has no basis in fact but is presented as being factually accurate. Facebook Inc , Alphabet Inc's Google and other tech companies have recently come under scrutiny for failing to promptly tackle the problem of fake news as more Americans consume news on social media platforms. The main portion of Pew's survey polled 5,035 adult Americans aged 18 and above in February and March. The study was intended to determine if respondents could differentiate between factual information and opinion statements in news stories. Participants were given five factual statements such as "spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid make up the largest portion of the U.S. federal budget," and five opinion statements such as "democracy is the greatest form of government." They were asked to identify which ones were factual and which were opinions. Only 26 percent were able to correctly identify all five factual statements. On opinions, about 35 percent were able to correctly identify all five statements. Roughly a quarter got most or all wrong in identifying facts and opinions, the research showed. The study found that participants' ability to classify statements as factual or opinion varied widely based on their political awareness, trust in the news media, and "digital savviness" or degree to which they are confident in using digital devices and the internet. "There is a striking difference in certain Americans in distinguishing what are factual statements and what are not and that depends on one's level of digital savviness, political savviness," Amy Mitchell, director of journalism research at Pew Research Center, said in an interview. The study also found that when Americans call a statement "factual" they overwhelmingly also think it is accurate. They tend to disagree with factual statements they incorrectly label as opinions, Pew said. The research showed Republicans and Democrats were also more likely to think news statements are factual when the statements appeal to their side, even if the statements were opinions. https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-grapple-recognizing-facts-news-stories-pew-survey-140456645.html Whats the difference? A fact is a statement that can be proven true or false. An opinion is an expression of a person's feelings that cannot be proven. |
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Here's a bit of something to consider.
When I was a kid, NEWS was on 6am, 12pm, 6pm and 11pm. World/national NEWS for 1/2 hour. Local NEWS for 1/2 hour. In those 1/2 blocks, roughly 5 minutes were commercials. I remember a spokesman coming on and apologizing for a newscaster that offered an opinion. The NEWS was NEWS, period. There is no need for a 24/7 dedicated NEWS channel. There is no need for a NEWS "Show". A "Show" is intended to entertain. NEWS is intended to inform. Viewpoints and opinions were something you had amongst yourselves citing NEWS reports as the source. Now, viewpoints and opinions are thrust against us and labeled as NEWS. No thank you. |
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Misinformed, uninformed, both conflate facts with opinions, and people of either side of the political fence is guilty of it.
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Fake news is out of control. The liberals think it's helping them but it's really hurting them. Since these are all opinion statements, I'll give a factual statement. Trump is our president.
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Misinformed, uninformed, both conflate facts with opinions, and people of either side of the political fence is guilty of it. totally agree |
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Edited by
shovelheaddave
on
Tue 06/19/18 09:45 AM
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Only a quarter of U.S. adults in a recent survey could fully identify factual statements - as opposed to opinion - in news stories, the Pew Research Center found in a study released on Monday. The survey comes amid growing concerns about so-called fake news spread on the internet and social media. The term generally refers to fabricated news that has no basis in fact but is presented as being factually accurate. Facebook Inc , Alphabet Inc's Google and other tech companies have recently come under scrutiny for failing to promptly tackle the problem of fake news as more Americans consume news on social media platforms. The main portion of Pew's survey polled 5,035 adult Americans aged 18 and above in February and March. The study was intended to determine if respondents could differentiate between factual information and opinion statements in news stories. Participants were given five factual statements such as "spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid make up the largest portion of the U.S. federal budget," and five opinion statements such as "democracy is the greatest form of government." They were asked to identify which ones were factual and which were opinions. Only 26 percent were able to correctly identify all five factual statements. On opinions, about 35 percent were able to correctly identify all five statements. Roughly a quarter got most or all wrong in identifying facts and opinions, the research showed. The study found that participants' ability to classify statements as factual or opinion varied widely based on their political awareness, trust in the news media, and "digital savviness" or degree to which they are confident in using digital devices and the internet. "There is a striking difference in certain Americans in distinguishing what are factual statements and what are not and that depends on one's level of digital savviness, political savviness," Amy Mitchell, director of journalism research at Pew Research Center, said in an interview. The study also found that when Americans call a statement "factual" they overwhelmingly also think it is accurate. They tend to disagree with factual statements they incorrectly label as opinions, Pew said. The research showed Republicans and Democrats were also more likely to think news statements are factual when the statements appeal to their side, even if the statements were opinions. https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-grapple-recognizing-facts-news-stories-pew-survey-140456645.html Whats the difference? A fact is a statement that can be proven true or false. An opinion is an expression of a person's feelings that cannot be proven. this is how the partisian entities that pass themselves off as 'news' organizations,such as fox news,rush limbaugh,and alex jones/infowars get away with spreading their lies,without being held accountable for commiting libel... by cleverly misrepresenting their opinions as facts through careful wording,and letting people who dont know any better just assume that these stories,and opinions are actually facts to further their own political agendas. [things like THIS are why you had the guy with the assault rifle shooting up the pizza joint in washington d.c.,because of the fake story that they passed off a a 'fact, that hillary clinton was running a child sex trafficing ring out of it!] the people who fall for this sort of thing simply WISH that it was true,so they dont bother to try to fact check anything,and then spread these partisian lies as facts,which is what the people who started these stories WANT them to do,because it gives them more credibility,and furthers their own political agandas. this is sort of like something called 'the liberty valence effect'... which goes something like..."when the LIE seems like a better story then the FACTS,print the lie!" and,the people who these organizations are taking advantage of,dont even realize how badly they are being played for fools,and will defend the story,and the people who are lying to them for everything they are worth,even after they realize that it isnt true,because they have already become so invested in the lie. eventually,there will have to be some sort of legislation passed to stop this sort of behavior,because of the great risk it poses to our country,and our government. it now currently falls under the first ammendment protection of free speech,which is how they are getting away with it,but just like the case where people yelling 'FIRE' in a crowded theater was made to be illegal because of the great risk it poses to people, this practice will also have to be made illegal,due to the great harm that THIS sort of 'free speech' is causing to our country,and our government. there USED TO BE something called 'THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE',that made it so that all media sources had to give equal time to the ohter side of any argument that the media source was making,but ronald reagan/the republicans had that law repealed,which gave birth to these partisian 'news' sources like FOXnews that only unfairly reported,and spread ONE side of the facts. and,NOW,we have come to THIS point in our history! |
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Most news media is guilty of fake news stories. Anytime you report some fact and then do an analysis of what that fact means, you are publishing your opinion. If a reporter feels the need to explain the meaning of the news, the story needs to be labeled as opinion. We that consume the actual news are the ones who should form our own opinion. This same concept applies to statistics; you can make them say anything you want with the proper slicing and dicing.
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journalism today is a joke, its even hard to find a news outlet that is independent
If they are independent they need donors to stay afloat and as soon as they are sponsored by rich donors who have a Machiavellian agenda, its back to propaganda and smearing. MSM is joke even right wing media is a joke for the most part is a joke. Left wing media is even worse. |
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I bet I've watch more of Trump's speeches, than I ever did when the other former Potus's talked. Why? Because of all of the words taken out of context, quoted by the MSM.
Fox News, at least would deliver his complete quote on something, then opine on that. All of the others, it was mangled so badly that his own mother wouldn't have voted for him. I wanted to hear his words, verbatim. Then decide from that point. I was really blown away by how badly they wanted him out. As an avid Rush listener, he's pretty accurate. He, admittedly isn't a lover of the Dems. This goes back to when Clinton started serving his first term. This holds true, because he thought that Trump running was a huge joke. Rush hated Trump. But he hated hillary more. I thought Bill O'Reilly was the most accurate. He went after everybody. All of the letter networks aren't worth a hoot. (Heck, they can't even get the weather right) About the only one that might be the most accurate, is One World News. The times I have watched it, they've been pretty spot on. |
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or because TRUMP loves for people to listen to Trump. I wouldn't blame that on media as some type of new development.
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I think the attack on Hillary Clinton is she was POTUS would be just as intense, the hatred for her from the right is just as bad as the Hatred for Trump from the left.
The only difference conservatives wouldn't be protesting and rioting on the street, although I think she would be the poster child for recruitment from the Alt Right. She would be mired in controversy from her own scandal from Uranium one and I doubt the North Korean porky dictator would be meeting her Mark my words folks, they are coming after Trump with fully loaded guns ablaze. And when he survives which he will, he wont be impeached and the Democrats and certain republicans will pay for it in 2020. Because Trump will look like a survivor and fighter and that is good enough for the average folk. |
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Whats the difference? A fact is a statement that can be proven true or false. An opinion is an expression of a person's feelings that cannot be proven. It's actually a bit trickier than that, because most people don't really understand what "proven" means either. Something which took me a very long time to work out, in spite of the fact that I was trying to figure it out from the time I was too young to speak, is that being basically logical takes a TREMENDOUS amount of work, and a deeply held dedication to seeking to BE factual and logical. Unfortunately, most people I have known, stop way too early in understanding how to think logically. It's very common to think something is a proven fact, because the person read that someone they respect, said it was. They don't realize that in addition, proof requires that whatever it is, has to obey the logic of all sorts of related things as well. Lack of a good education, thereby VERY often leads to thinking things are facts, which are not even valid as opinions, simply because the person hearing them doesn't have the background information needed to recognize that the information doesn't actually make any sense. I myself had to study years of college level history, philosophy, art history, and science, just to begin to get a handle on how to tell the difference, in some cases. Most people can't afford that, or the time it takes to gain that much knowledge. And even with all that, a person who is already prejudiced about things strongly enough, will simply deny the parts they don't like, and twist the rest to suit their favoritisms. Basically, it takes a lot of real effort to be logical, and to discern facts from non-facts. And most people don't even begin to recognize that. And so they stop working on it too soon, and then get mad at anyone who tells them they have more work to do. |
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I think the attack on Hillary Clinton is she was POTUS would be just as intense, the hatred for her from the right is just as bad as the Hatred for Trump from the left. The only difference conservatives wouldn't be protesting and rioting on the street, although I think she would be the poster child for recruitment from the Alt Right. She would be mired in controversy from her own scandal from Uranium one and I doubt the North Korean porky dictator would be meeting her Mark my words folks, they are coming after Trump with fully loaded guns ablaze. And when he survives which he will, he wont be impeached and the Democrats and certain republicans will pay for it in 2020. Because Trump will look like a survivor and fighter and that is good enough for the average folk. It is clear to me that you get most of your news from Fox News or right wing opinion blogs like Breitbart. I recall there actually being calls for a revolt if Hillary won the election. For the most part, the protests have been peaceful. What about the Alt-Right, like in Charlottesville? How many people have liberal demonstrators killed since Trump was elected? Enlighten me! Hillary wasn't the only one who signed off on the Uranium deal, from what little details I recall. So if there was a conspiracy, a lot of people were in on it. Why not go after them too while at it? If Trump goes through the process of firing Mueller without proving that he is incapable of being unbiased and replacing him with someone who is (Mueller is a Republican for goodness sake!) before he has a chance to complete his investigation into criminal conspiracy with Russia, obstructing justice, then as far as I'm concerned, those of us who know that Trump is a lying, cheating scumbag will have every right to assume that he is guilty, and come after him with "fully loaded guns blazing", as you put it. Every spineless Republican will probably vote against impeachment regardless of the results of the investigation, because they need voters like you to keep their 6-figure salary and benefits that they don't want to every citizen to have, but just remember that there are hundreds of millions of Americans who know what is truly destroying this country. And unless you refer to the lying, spineless, morally bankrupt, feckless cowards that makes up the modern GOP, it isn't the Deep State! |
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The fact is that opinions skew the facts...
Fact or Opinion???  
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Edited by
diserli_gears
on
Tue 06/19/18 07:01 PM
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It is clear to me that you get most of your news from Fox News or right wing opinion blogs like Breitbart. Its clear to me that you dont know what you're talking about,perhaps if you stop watching CNN or MSNBC or Thom Hartmann over at Russian TV and actually did some research you might and I do mean might be able to think for yourself vs regurgitating Leftist rhetoric I dont watch Fox news, I live in Canada for one, second I dont read Breightbart or any right wing blog, as they are all one sided. no let me take that back I do read right wing blog and left wing blog, and Marxists blog to get their spin and views but I dont blindly accept, endorse or even take them seriously as they are too one sided for me. but people like me do independent research, you should try that sometime. I recall there actually being calls for a revolt if Hillary won the election. For the most part, the protests have been peaceful. What about the Alt-Right, like in Charlottesville? How many people have liberal demonstrators killed since Trump was elected? Enlighten me! you are full of shite my friend, since Trump kicked off his election there have been at least 47 different protest, some more violent than others, do you how many protested Barrack Barry Hussien Obama? Do you know? let me tell you.... FIVE, all from tea party folks protesting his obama care, high taxes , fiscal policy and his stance on marriage FIVE PROTESTS,not including world protests where he visited which would bring the numbers higher George W.Bush didnt have that many protest. Hillary wasn't the only one who signed off on the Uranium deal, from what little details I recall. So if there was a conspiracy, a lot of people were in on it. Why not go after them too while at it? If you dont know anything about the Uranium one Scandal its better that you read up on it then comment Jes, just some simple friendly advice the controversy of her role in the sale and the link to the Clinton Foundation, her failure to publicly disclose the donors with ties to the Uranium one even though Hillary had an agreement with the white house that the foundation would disclose all contributors and How Bill Clinton spoke at a conference in Moscow on June 29th, 2010 after the Rosatom -Uranium one merger was announced BUT before it was approved by the committee on Foreign investments in October 2010. These are facts Jes, feel free to verify. If Trump goes through the process of firing Mueller without proving that he is incapable of being unbiased and replacing him with someone who is (Mueller is a Republican for goodness sake!) before he has a chance to complete his investigation into criminal conspiracy with Russia, obstructing justice, then as far as I'm concerned, those of us who know that Trump is a lying, cheating scumbag will have every right to assume that he is guilty, and come after him with "fully loaded guns blazing", as you put it. that is your spin and opinion, I will let the facts dictate when its all over Every spineless Republican will probably vote against impeachment regardless of the results of the investigation, because they need voters like you to keep their 6-figure salary and benefits that they don't want to every citizen to have, but just remember that there are hundreds of millions of Americans who know what is truly destroying this country. And unless you refer to the lying, spineless, morally bankrupt, feckless cowards that makes up the modern GOP, it isn't the Deep State! you are letting your emotions act without the benefit of intellect Ive already explained why they wont impeach, you are blinded by your rage . not a good way of living life Jes. Grab some herbal tea and relax, or try decaf. |
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It definitely comes down to education .. anyone who has a university qualification is unlikely to confuse fact and opinion
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Edited by
d__u__b
on
Tue 06/19/18 08:37 PM
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It definitely comes down to education .. anyone who has a university qualification is unlikely to confuse fact and opinion that may be true other places, and it's used to be more true here, but not so much anymore. i'm surprised the number (the 25% quoted in the OP) wasn't FAR higher. sadly, there is a large segment of college educated people here that think they're smarter than they really are simply because they have a college degree. they are not. what they are are trained...and, often, not very well. |
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It definitely comes down to education .. anyone who has a university qualification is unlikely to confuse fact and opinion that may be true other places, and it's used to be more true here, but not so much anymore. i'm surprised the number (the 25% quoted in the OP) wasn't FAR higher. sadly, there is a large segment of college educated people here that think they're smarter than they really are simply because they have a college degree. they are not. what they are are trained...and, often, not very well. it also depends upon the degree .. I mean, I do think a science or med school student needs a bit more logic and analyzation skills than a major in English ... |
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It definitely comes down to education .. anyone who has a university qualification is unlikely to confuse fact and opinion that may be true other places, and it's used to be more true here, but not so much anymore. i'm surprised the number (the 25% quoted in the OP) wasn't FAR higher. sadly, there is a large segment of college educated people here that think they're smarter than they really are simply because they have a college degree. they are not. what they are are trained...and, often, not very well. it also depends upon the degree .. I mean, I do think a science or med school student needs a bit more logic and analyzation skills than a major in English ...  English is a prerequisite in most degrees not a major .. that is pretty funny ms harmony ..I think possibly you are out of touch with academic requirements
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It definitely comes down to education .. anyone who has a university qualification is unlikely to confuse fact and opinion that may be true other places, and it's used to be more true here, but not so much anymore. i'm surprised the number (the 25% quoted in the OP) wasn't FAR higher. sadly, there is a large segment of college educated people here that think they're smarter than they really are simply because they have a college degree. they are not. what they are are trained...and, often, not very well. it also depends upon the degree .. I mean, I do think a science or med school student needs a bit more logic and analyzation skills than a major in English ... very true; but, one should never underestimate the influence of willful ignorance. |
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