IMO: Why you should NEVER take news, any news, at face value! You need to look at multiple sources to determine the credibility of a news story. For me, I start with CUI BONO and take it from there.
A recent example of how relying on the MSM as a single source leads you up the garden path with their ‘news’ ……….
Top US Journalists Spread Fake News Claiming North Korean Official Was ‘Purged’ – Then He Shows Up on TV – by: Swiss Propaganda Research (SPR) ......... which is an independent non-profit research group investigating geopolitical propaganda in Swiss and international media.
Bloomberg kicked off the fake news frenzy on May 30 by publishing a report claiming, “North Korea executed its former top nuclear envoy to the U.S. and four other foreign ministry officials in March after a failed summit between Kim and Donald Trump.”
Bloomberg’s source for this false story was South Korea’s far-right newspaper Chosun Ilbo, which has a long history of fabricating stories about North Korea. In turn, Chosun Ilbo’s story was based on a single unidentified source.
That is to say, the fake report obediently echoed by the Western press corps was based entirely on the claims of one unnamed person.
This obvious lack of evidence did not stop credulous reporters from jumping on the sensationalist propaganda. The false story was circulated by ……… The New York Times, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Daily Beast, Fox News, CNBC, TIME, ABC News, The Financial Times, The Telegraph, VICE, Rolling Stone, The Independent, The Washington Times, The New York Post, HuffPost, France 24, The Japan Times, Haaretz, The Times of Israel, the US government’s Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, and many more.
The full article ……….. (at least the BBC, to their credit, apparently appears to have not followed the pack!)
https://www.globalresearch.ca/top-us-journalists-spread-fake-news-claiming-north-korean-official-was-purged-then-he-shows-tv/5679542
Which news sources are closer to ‘Power’ and which are more liberal vs more conservative?
The Media Navigator 2019
The Media Navigator classifies more than 70 news outlets based on their political stance and their relationship to power. In many cases, the latter is more significant.
https://swprs.org/media-navigator/
...... and this is how the Russian’s do it!
Russian Propaganda - How does Russian propaganda work, and what makes it so effective?
The basic principle is universal and focuses on dissonances and discrepancies in the power structure of target countries, combined with the positive representation of one’s own ambitions.
The key techniques to achieve these goals are not “fake news” or “disinformation” – which can be refuted – but a skillful choice of topics, aspects and interview partners. As one doesn’t promise neutral journalism, the audience doesn’t expect it, either.
This approach is most effective when an incoherence or incompleteness of Western reporting can be proven and as a result confidence in the Western media system as a whole can be shaken – consider slogans and formats such as “Question More” or “The Missing Part”.
While seemingly progressive, the overarching strategic goal is to provide media support for Russian foreign policy – in peace as well as in war. This can be observed particularly well in volatile diplomatic relations, for example with countries such as France, Israel, Turkey or the US.
For Western critics from a wide variety of political backgrounds, such a programme – for information or even as a platform – is quite attractive. Western media, on the other hand, find themselves in a serious dilemma: should they accept, ignore, or combat Russian-sponsored criticism?
The alleged Russian social media operations to influence foreign elections, however, remain unproven. Moreover, in 2018 a consulting firm tasked by US Congress with the evaluation of these operations was itself caught faking a “Russian botnet” in order to manipulate a US senate election.
https://swprs.org/russian-propaganda/
As a footnote ...........
The Propaganda Multiplier:
It is one of the most important aspects of our media system, and yet hardly known to the public: most of the international news coverage in Western media is provided by only three global news agencies based in New York, London and Paris.
The key role played by these agencies means Western media often report on the same topics, even using the same wording. In addition, governments, military and intelligence services use these global news agencies as multipliers to spread their messages around the world.
https://swprs.org/the-propaganda-multiplier/
