Truth Monitors

   Traditional news media are less relevant these days as social media become the prime source of information for many millions of people. That's the current worry among journalists as fake news stories feed the public's voracious appetite for material they fervently want to believe, and the True Believers ignore information that conflicts with their basic articles of faith.
   "Facts don't matter anymore," said one of the candidate's surrogates. Apparently what does matter is that campaigners tell voters what they want to hear, putting them in conflict with journalism's duty to inform the public on what people need to know.
   Editors continue to screen the claims and comments of those eager to reach readers and viewers, but as those in the public eye reach millions of followers directly via Facebook, Twitter and other sites, their messages go out unfiltered and unchecked, virtual propaganda not subject to believability quotients and thus readily accepted by the Trusting Followers no matter how outrageous or even silly the claim.
   Meanwhile, many followers of social media seem unwilling or unable to separate satire from what has become known as "fake news."
   What's the difference? Consider: Satire is clearly fiction, meant to be entertaining, and to criticize or offer a lesson. In current usage, "fake news" masquerades as truth in the guise of legitimate journalism, designed to destroy someone's reputation and to attract readers who read advertising on the fake news website, thus providing the producer with an income.
   With no editors to monitor the items posted on fake news websites, libel and slander dressed up to look like traditional news become an international plague.
   Major platforms like Facebook and Twitter are being pressured to somehow monitor the postings and prevent the spread of lies, but that puts them in the role of acting as editors, not merely tech firms offering an outlet for users.
   There are clear laws against libel, but since most of the fake news perpetrators operate anonymously, it's very difficult to catch them. In any case, the damage is already done.
   Traditional journalism can do its part by exposing the falsehoods and prosecuting imitators, but more important will be a major project of rebuilding trust among readers and viewers, even as they cover even the most outrageous attacks against them by political demagogues.