Culture of Lies Understanding Fake News & Its Spiritual Ramifications Timothy Zebell CreateSpace Publisher Culture of Lies Copyright © 2019 by Timothy Zebell. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ISBN-9781693873225 Imprint: Independently Published Contents _____________________ 1. The State of Our Media ................................................................ 1 2. The President’s Fake News Awards ................................... 11 3. A Culture of Lies ....................................................................... 25 4. The Anatomy of Fake News .............................................. 51 5. Three Types of Fake News ....................................................... 65 6. A Long History of Fake News .......................................... 85 7. Fake Polls & Fake Fact-Checkers ............................................. 97 8. Fake Hate ......................................................................... 115 9. The Growing Threat of Censorship ....................................... 125 10. When Fake News Becomes a Culture of Lies ................ 139 Appendix A – Further Details of Examples Used .............. 149 Appendix B – Additional Examples of Fake News in the Era of Trump: 2016 .............................................. 157 Appendix C – Additional Examples of Fake News in the Era of Trump: 2017 ........................................ 165 Appendix D – Additional Examples of Fake News in the Era of Trump: 2018 .............................................. 197 Appendix E – Historical Examples of Fake News .............. 207 Works Cited ................................................................................ 215 “To your request of my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be most useful, I should answer, ‘by restraining it to true facts & sound principles only.’ Yet I fear such a paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more compleatly [sic] deprive the nation of it’s benefits, than is done by it’s abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day. … I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.” ~3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (Letter to John Norvell, June 11, 1807) “The press has become so dishonest that if we don’t talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people.” ~45th U.S. President Donald Trump 1. The State of Our Media _____________________ Once heralded as the objective bastion of truth and the common man’s advocate, America’s most prominent news outlets are today accused of serving as “lap dogs of the deep state” and a “propaganda arm of the left.”1 Nearly half of all Americans have a negative view of the news media, and only 44% say they can think of a news source that reports the news objectively.2 Furthermore, 66% of Americans say news outlets do not do a good job of separating fact from opinion.3 Today’s news coverage often appears to be unbalanced and narrative driven. To illustrate this, Media Research Center reports that, in CNN’s cable news coverage on March 7, 2018, 149 minutes were devoted to allegations against President Trump by adult film star Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford), and 86 minutes were devoted to other Trump controversies, while only 44.5 minutes were devoted to all other news.4 Three weekends later, CNN mentioned Stormy Daniels and another Trump accuser, Playboy model Karen McDougal, 602 times compared to only 162 mentions 1 Ryun, “The Mainstream Media – The Lap Dogs of the Deep State and Propaganda Arm of the Left.” 2 Knight Foundation, American Views: Trust, Media and Democracy. 3 Knight Foundation. 4 Houck, “Category Five Stormy: CNN Primetime Spends 149 Minutes Ogling Stormy Daniels Scandal.” 2 The State of Our Media of the Senate omnibus spending bill that was passed that Friday morning.5 For a year Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, became a regular guest on cable news shows,6 and we were fed headlines such as “Why Dismissing Stormy Daniels’ Story Would Be a Mistake”7 and “How Stormy Daniels Could Impact the Russia Investigation.”8 However, Daniels’ defamation lawsuit was eventually dismissed in court, and a judge ordered her to pay President Trump $293,000 for attorney fees and another $1,000 in sanctions.9, 10 According to a Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy study, CNN’s news coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days in office was 93% negative.11 But it is not only cable news that is unbalanced and narrative-driven in its coverage. Despite a flurry of positive events—particularly related to the economy—the same Harvard study concluded that coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days was 93% negative by NBC, 91% negative by CBS, 87% negative by the New York Times, 83% negative by the Washington Post, and 70% negative by the Wall Street Journal.12 This trend continued beyond the first 100 days. Despite his administration’s record-breaking successes, the news media chose to obsess over perceived faults in President Trump as an individual and those surrounding him. According to a Media Research Center study of the evening newscasts for ABC, CBS, and NBC, 90% of the 5 Athey, “CNN Mentions Stormy Nearly Twice as Much as Spending Bill.” 6 O’Connor, “Trump Hatred Fueled Media’s Yearlong Obsession with Avenatti and Stormy.” 7 Costello, “Why Dismissing Stormy Daniels’ Story Would Be a Mistake.” 8 Cohen, “How Stormy Daniels Could Impact the Russia Investigation.” 9 Taylor, “Stormy Daniels Ordered to Pay Trump $293,000 in Fees in Defamation Lawsuit.” 10 “Civil Minutes – General.” 11 Patterson, News Coverage of Donald Trump’s First 100 Days, 10. 12 Patterson, 10. The State of Our Media 3 coverage of President Trump in both 2017 and 2018 was negative (excluding neutral comments).13, 14, 15 Unbalanced and narrative-driven coverage has become a defining element in today’s news. Take for example when the Trump White House released details of an immigration plan intended as a compromise with Democrats that would legalize 1.8 million illegal immigrants known as “Dreamers” in exchange for $25 billion toward building a southern border wall; CNN dedicated 11 times more coverage to possible Trump scandals that had already received excessive coverage. These included the possibility that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the election, the discrediting of text messages exchanged between FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, and allegations made by Stormy Daniels.16 Consistently, some stories receive far more coverage than their political counterparts: • In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired 11 times more sound bites from anti- gun activists than gun rights advocates. Likewise, they aired 69 stories and nine interviews featuring the anti-gun efforts of Parkland students without any mention given to students from the same high school who had openly championed the Second Amendment.17 • FBI Director Andrew McCabe made misleading comments in a formal interview with the Inspector General, as did National Security Advisor Michael Flynn with the FBI. An analysis of the first eight hours of coverage for both 13 Noyes, “2017: The Year the News Media Went to War against a President.” 14 Noyes, “The Media Get Trumped: President’s Polls Improve Despite 90% Negative Coverage.” 15 Noyes, “Networks Trashed Trump with 90% Negative Spin in 2018, but Did It Matter?” 16 Houck, “Bread Crumbs: CNN Dedicates 11 Times More Coverage to Trump Scandals Than Immigration Plan.” 17 Dickens, “Nets: Parkland Anti-Gun Activists Overwhelm Gun Rights Advocates by 11 to 1.” 4 The State of Our Media individuals reveals that MSNBC devoted 18 times more coverage to Michael Flynn than to Andrew McCabe.18 • FBI Director Andrew McCabe resigned just ahead of an indicting inspector general’s report that included a referral for criminal charges against McCabe. Nevertheless, ABC, CBS, and NBC assigned six times more blame to President Trump than to the pending inspector general report in their speculation surrounding McCabe’s resignation.19 • House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was accused of being out of touch because of a tweet referencing a woman who said she was pleasantly surprised that the tax cuts provided her an extra $1.50 per week, allowing her to afford a Costco membership. This received 74 times more coverage by CNN and MSNBC than their coverage of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) comments that the tax cut only offers American workers crumbs, despite an immediate wave of bonuses and increased wages attributed to the tax cut. MSNBC only granted 17 seconds to Pelosi’s comment in a week’s worth of coverage.20 • When newly appointed House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi disinvited President Trump from visiting the House chambers to deliver the State