From ... in Alternative News — Jan 4, 2017

Snopes Exposed As Unfit To Arbiter ‘Truth’

Right now, all across the globe, alternative media outlets that are receiving millions of views and ‘likes’ across several different social media platforms are continuing to grow and garner attention, this is due in large part to the fact that so many people can now see through the ‘hogwash’ that mainstream media spews out on a yearly basis. Sure, not everything that’s presented to the masses via mainstream media is ‘fake news,’ but unfortunately, a large portion of it is and this has been demonstrated during several instances which provided onlookers the opportunity to ‘wake up,’ for lack of a better phrase. Perhaps the best example in recent history was 9/11. Even today, studies are being published that pretty much make it clear that all three buildings were destroyed by controlled demolition. Here’s a great example that was published last year in the magazine of the European Physical Society. Some of you may be asking yourselves, “well if this is actually true, why isn’t mainstream media covering it?” That’s because the powerful group of elite who manufacture these events and then dish a fake explanation to the masses, also own the mainstream media. This became clear to many decades ago when the CIA was outed for their “Operation Mockingbird,” a CIA-based initiative to control mainstream, and according to those who have been working for these major media outlets, it’s still happening today. A great example is Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, a top German journalist and editor for more than two decades who went on television stating that he was forced to publish the works of intelligence agents under his own name. He also added that noncompliance with these orders would result in him losing his job. Another great example would be former CBC News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, or Amber Lyon, a three-time Emmy award winning journalist who outed CNN stating that they are routinely paid by the U.S. government and foreign governments to selectively report and even distort information on certain events. She has also indicated that the government has editorial control over content. It’s a long list, and there is more than enough evidence and opportunity for people to discern what is real, and what’s not real, who they can trust, and who they can’t trust. As you’ve probably already heard, Facebook recently teamed up with corporations like ABC and Snopes, among others, in an attempt to limit the amount of “misinformation” that can be spread on the internet. As a result, these authorities are not letting the people examine information and sources for themselves, but rather determining what is real and what’s ‘fake news’ according to them. This is yet another example of infringing on our right to access information open and freely. It’s hard to imagine how they thought this type of intervention would be a smooth one, as the announcement sparked outrage among millions of people, who in turn called out mainstream media as the real ‘fake news.’ For example, as a results of the announcement by Facebook, three time presidential candidate Ron Paul released a list of “journalists” who colluded with the Clinton campaign. You can view that list HERE. That’s a great example of real ‘fake news,’ Mr. Zuckerberg. Now, stories that Facebook and those they’ve teemed up with to determine what is fake news, have been removed from people’s news feeds. It’s important for us to remember that 90 percent of western media is controlled by a small group of people and the corporations they run, six to be exact. This makes it impossible for anybody to get any type of information that is not in line with their agenda in order to maximize their profits and carry out any other agendas that they might have. Instead of internet censorship, the correct thing to do would be to uncensor the internet and have people examine sources, and let them believe what they’d like to believe based on all of the information that’s out there. For example, you will never hear mainstream media cover anything harmful to the image of genetically modified foods, despite the fact that Wikileaks, and a Federal Lawsuit exposed that there are a number of concerns and science to back it up. Why else would so many countries around the world refuse these products? You can read more about that here, as it is just one out of several examples.

The ‘war on terror’ is another. Any outlet that touches on these topics that counter the big corporations that own the media, will be deemed as fake news. Do you see the problem here? Whenever the eyes of the masses drift away from corporate/government owned media, they panic, and this ‘war on fake news’ is a great example and yet another opportunity for people to ‘wake up.’ It almost makes it easier for onlookers to determine what ‘truth’ really is, stories today that become popular which are subject to attempted debunking by mainstream outlets usually have more credible sources behind them than people are made to believe. All it takes is some time, research, and critical thinking.

The issue issue is that, critical thinking. It’s so easy for mainstream media to persuade the minds of the masses by simply making statements, and having government officials back them.

The best example is this whole Russian Propaganda campaign, where the US is blaming Russia for a rigged election. Mainstream media simply stated something, and all of a sudden the masses consider it a possibility, with no sources or evidence cited for the people to examine for themselves.

They have the power to make a non debatable topic debatable and accepted by the masses. NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden said it best, the solution here is not to censor what people read but rather teaching people how to think critically: “The problem of fake news isn’t solved by hoping for a referee but rather because we as participants, we as citizens, we as users of these services help each other...The answer to bad speech is not censorship.

The answer to bad speech is more speech. We have to exercise the idea that critical thinking matters now more than ever, given the fact that lies seem to be getting very popular.” (source)(source) One of them, as mentioned earlier, is Snopes, a site created by Barbara and David Mikkelson in 1995 to determine the truth and fiction behind various lore and urban legends.

The Daily Mail recently did an investigation into the company and found that they posed as “The San Fernardo Valley Folklore Society” when they first started, and it never existed as a legal entity. Currently David’s new wife, Elyssa Young, a former escort and porn actress who ran for Congress in 2004 is now a head Snopes administrator. We are talking about a group of fact checkers that are comprised of a few people. Another former sex-blogger named Kimberly LaCapria is another one of their main contributors. We are not judging their personal lives, but just want to make it clear that these are ordinary people like me and you who have been given the job of ‘fact checkers,’ for North America. Who is calling Snopes to be un-fit to be the arbiter of news? Apart from the millions of people engaged in alternative media, like those who support us here at Collective -Evolution, Forbes actually jumped in and voiced their concern with regards to the Daily Mail investigation. Forbes contributor Kalev Leetaru writes, with regards to an inquiry he made to Snopes about the investigation: “When I first read through the Daily Mail article I immediately suspected the story itself must certainly be ‘fake news’ ... if any of the claims were true ... companies like Facebook would not be partnering with them ... Thus, when I reached out to David Mikkelson ... for comment, I fully expected him to respond with a lengthy email in Snopes’ trademark point-by-point format, fully refuting each and every one of the claims in the Daily Mail’s article and writing the entire article off as ‘fake news.’ It was with incredible surprise therefore that I received David’s one-sentence response which read in its entirety ‘I’d be happy to speak with you, but I can only address some aspects in general because I’m precluded by the terms of a binding settlement agreement from discussing details of my divorce.’ This absolutely astounded me. Here was one of the world’s most respected fact checking organizations, soon to be an ultimate arbitrator of ‘truth’ on Facebook, saying that it cannot respond to a fact checking request because of a secrecy agreement. In short, when someone attempted to fact check the fact checker, the response was the equivalent of ‘it’s secret.’ It is impossible to understate how antithetical this is to the fact checking world, in which absolute openness and transparency are necessary prerequisites for trust. How can fact checking organizations like Snopes expect the public to place trust in them if when they themselves are called into question, their response is that they can’t respond?” (source) It’s good to see that at least some mainstream media is admitting this, as there are so many examples of why we don’t need these people fact checking for us. Dr. Jospeh Mercola provides a great example, pointing to the fact that Snopes should have “nothing to do with arbitrating health news” explaining how they debunked “safety concerns about aspartame,” and that this case “also demonstrates the insidious and dangerous effect of bias, which can come from the very highest levels...At the very least, Snopes would need to read the books and review the aspartame research that shows harm, and there are many such studies. Instead, they took the easy way out. As a result, a lot of people are not properly forewarned and may be hurt. My thoughts on the matter are that people have enough brain power to determine what is fake news and what isn’t for themselves. At the same time, there is so much information out there that nobody should be given the job of ‘fact checker.’ We need a populace capable of thinking for themselves, not having others do it for them, especially people in positions of great power who benefit off of the public perception of various events.

The amount of misinformation and secrecy that’s plagued this planet, mainly from mainstream media news sources, is something the people clearly no longer desire. This is precisely why more people are flocking to alternative media outlets for their information. It’s up to you to look at the sources in an article, newspaper or TV programs that are being cited and from there, you yourself should be able to form your own opinion and belief on the matter.

The fact that Facebook has teemed up with organizations like Snopes only further exposes what is already clear to many, real news is threatening to the global elite power structure and the various agendas they try to pursue. So many eyes were being taken away from mainstream media, and so much information has surfaced and been exposed that they are now panicking and trying to silence these other news outlets. One thing is for certain, this movement won’t back down, and the more attention given to it by mainstream media in whatever light, only serves the greater good. Let the people look at the information and decide for themselves, censoring information is not right, and nobody should have the power to do that. .

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Snopes Exposed As Unfit To Arbiter ‘Truth’

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