Spinning a Web of Lies
Today, the term “fake news,” made famous by President Trump, is used in everyday conversation. While I, along with many other people, use fake news as a response to outrageous Facebook posts or light-hearted teasing, I’m here to tell you, fake news is no joke.
Fake news is a derivative of the word “spin.” The Open School of Journalism defines “spin” as follows: To spin the news is to influence or slant the information in order to affect the original meaning and impact the judgment of audiences.
Take for example, Fox News station. My gramma keeps Fox News on in the background of her home while she’s cooking or reading a book, she loves to stay up to date with the current state of our country and I admire her for it. But I do have one issue with Fox News, it uses spin like I use the word “y’all,” — far too frequently. Both sides of the argument are constantly spinning their agenda, marketing it to news consumers to sway their opinion. I can admire the cunning craft of spinning news, but it doesn’t make it ethical.
This week, I scrolled past a post on my Facebook timeline from Farmer Girl, a personal blog. Farmer Girl’s page is mainly focused on dairy farming, but she shares many Facebook posts pertaining to other types of agriculture as well.
On August 10, 2019, Farmer Girl posted a photo of herself bottle feeding a Holstein calf while wearing a shirt which read, “ASK FARMERS. NOT GOOGLE.” This specific post was shared 4,300 times and has 4,700 likes and 274 comments. The post is lengthy, but here is an excerpt which I believe is highly important for news consumers to read:
“Dihydrogen monoxide, also known as DHMO, can be pretty scary stuff. It corrodes metal, is a major component of acid rain, is found in cancerous tumors, is used in nuclear weapons, and contact with it can cause severe burns. It is found in all streams, rivers, and oceans. It is very addictive and a full withdrawal from it will kill a person. Every single person who comes in contact with it will die.
So why aren't people protesting the use of DHMO? Why isn't it banned?
Because dihydrogen (two hydrogen atoms) monoxide (one oxygen atom), aka DHMO, is the chemical makeup of water. Yes, water! Not so scary anymore, is it?”
The point Farmer Girl and I are both trying to make is facts can be twisted and information can be spun, but by doing a little research, fake news can be disproven.
The agricultural industry is constantly under scrutinization. Between “bigger” issues, such as the current issue in the Amazon (a topic I will be writing about in the coming weeks), and smaller issues such as explaining to a kindergartener that no, chocolate milk doesn’t come from “brown cows,” we’ve got our work cut out for us as far as marketing the industry to the public goes.
As a journalist, it was drilled into my brain that media spin is unethical, and I believe that wholeheartedly. But not every communicator abides by this code of ethics. A number of activist communicators are spreading information pertaining to animal agriculture which is simply not true. Just type “Animal Agriculture,” into Google’s search bar, I promise the search results you find will fire you up. With only 11 percent of the American workforce working in the agricultural industry, there is an abundance of room to sway an uninformed citizen’s opinion.
Think of a second-grade math student on their first day of school. They don’t know how to multiply, and they will not know how until their teacher explains multiplication to them. If their teacher says that 2x2=56, they’re going to believe it because they simply do not know any different.
Just like an ill-informed second grade mathematician, the other 89 percent of American citizens will continue to stay misinformed UNLESS we correct it. I encourage you, the reader, to look out for such misinformation and allow an open conversation about agriculture. And I encourage you, journalists and communicators, to spread the complete, unbiased truth.
