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The guardian reports on a sobering event in Washington DC.
US police have arrested a man wielding an assault rifle who entered a pizza restaurant that was the target of fake news reports it was operating a child abuse ring led by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her top campaign aide.
[...] The suspect entered the restaurant and pointed a gun at a restaurant employee, who fled and notified authorities, police said. The man then discharged the weapon inside the restaurant. There were no injuries.
[...] [Police] said the suspect during an interview with investigators revealed that he came to the establishment to "self-investigate" Pizzagate, the police statement said. Pizzagate is a baseless conspiracy, which falsely claims Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta were running a child sex ring from the restaurant's backrooms.
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Tuesday December 06 2016, @10:13PM
You know, that's what I thought was the definition of "fake news", as well: news that is fake.
I've been reading several comments on this story, and yours was the first one that made sense.
I've actually started wondering: "is there some new kind of definition of "fake news", that I'm not aware of???"
Many of the other comments are difficult to understand for me. Like I'm missing some kind of common background knowledge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 06 2016, @10:34PM
Many of the other comments are difficult to understand for me.
Like I'm missing some kind of common background knowledge.
There is a mindset that conflates mistakes and editorial perspective with deliberate lies.
I think it might be a defense mechanism to avoid an honest examination of how and why they've been suckered, a sort of "the liars I trust are no worse than the liars you trust" deflection. Its corrosive because it puts facts in the backseat to partisanship. I think it is psychologically more comfortable to tear down others than to do a honest self-examination of one's own failings, especially ideas that you have made significant personal investment in. Its almost like a defense of their personal identity.