While you're waiting for the second debate tonight, remember that 90% of the problem is people like CNN's Julian Zelizer asking questions like this of the 2012 election:
"Do facts matter?"
With the presidential and
vice presidential debates fully under way, and both parties claiming
that their opponents are liars, websites and news shows are inundated
with experts and reporters who inform voters about whether candidates
are making claims that have little basis in fact.
Like the card game "B.S,"
in which players call fellow players when they lie about what card has
been put into the collective pile, the fact-checkers shout out to
Americans when they find that politicians are injecting falsehood into
the news cycle.
But it is not clear what impact the fact checkers are having on the
public at large or, nearly as important, on the politicians. They keep
laying out the facts and the politicians keep stretching the truth.
There is little evidence that the public is outraged by any of the
revelations nor that it has any real influence on how the politicians
conduct themselves, other than to provide more campaign fodder for
attacks on their opponents.
Shorter answer: no. What we tell you matters here at CNN, matters. And we say facts don't mean sheeeeeeeeeeeeit. He ends thusly:
The public lives in a world where it seems impossible to know what is
fact and what is partisan fiction. Fact checkers, many of whom have
legitimate and virtuous objectives to get Americans to really understand
the choices before them, have trouble gaining much traction. When one
of the players calls "B.S." during the political cycle, people might be
listening, but it's not clear that there are lasting consequences.
Facts are hard. Critical thought is hard. The Village makes it easy. We'll tell you what you should believe, right after this break.
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