On "just saying" and "putting it out there"

On air…
Dan: Have you noticed how phrases like "Just saying" and "putting it out there" seem to be everywhere these days?
Barbara: Yes, it's like people use them to say whatever they want without taking responsibility. Making our society more chaotic, maybe?
Dan: Definitely. Social media amplifying these phrases, making it easier for politicians and conspiracy theorists to spread lies and fake news just to get attention.
Barbara: Remember Vance? He admitted to telling lies to make a better story.
Dan: Exactly. It's scary how effective that strategy can be. The more they repeat these lies, the more people start to believe them, creating divisions in society.
Barbara: And social media just makes it worse. The echo chamber ups the volume. A constant state of outrage. Everyone trying to outdo each other with more shocking stories.
Dan: Unchecked for facts, yes. And the algorithms on social media platforms prioritize these kinds of posts because they generate more engagement.
Barbara: Which means more ad revenue for the platforms, but more misinformation for us. It's a vicious cycle.
Dan: It's not just politicians and conspiracy theorists. Even regular people use these phrases to avoid accountability for their words.
Barbara: Saying something controversial without fully committing to it. "Just saying" gives them an out if they get called out.
Dan: And "putting it out there" could give the impression someone is sharing an idea, even if it's totally fake. You never know what's true anymore because there’s such a cacophony of competing stories.

__________
Voice-over
Some news outlets are making efforts to restore balance and credibility in journalism. ABC, today for example, reasserted its commitment to impartial reporting and fact-checking. It's tough to do, especially in today's media landscape, but crucial for maintaining public trust. Can the ship be saved from capsizing?

Did Marco Polo go to Cathay?

How far did he go?

.

Bianca: Of course he went.

.

Zanni: What makes you so sure?

Bianca and Zanni debate Marco

.

Bianca: His account of Chinese places, inventions, culture. Plants and animals along the way.

.

Zanni: Books have been written to question whether he actually went.

.

Bianca: And refuted. Easy way to make a name for yourself is to attack historical figures. They can’t answer back. You start by attacking the urban myths.

__________

Voice-over

Like the urban myth that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy? Since noodles had arrived in Italy before Marco Polo was born, he obviously didn’t bring these from Asia. And there is the lack of mention of chopsticks or tea. And although original copies of the popular work have been lost, 150 copies of his manuscript exist today. Many scholars like Mark Elvin suggest that he had an authentic story to tell even though it was embellished by coauthor Rustichello da Pisa. One faulty brick doesn’t bring down the structure.

...

The éminence grise and his puppet con-man

How to spin snake oil…

.

George: Back in the wild west days, a medicine man would show up in a community of people with aches and pains and coughs and colds and give them snake oil and relieve them of a lot of money. He’d be gone before any of the sufferers noticed that the so-called medicine didn’t work.

.

Bill: An apt metaphor. But I would add that this particular conman is under the control of a man with a plan, an éminence grise.

.

George: You think the éminence grise tells the conman what to say?

.

Bill: How to spin the story, the timing of the diversions.

.

George: But those early morning tweets, are they all in the plan?

.

Whoever controls the media…?

Bill: This éminence grise has a hard job controlling his puppet. The conman goes way too fake with his stories, over-performs with child-like tantrums. Still, the spin and the spiel help distract the people from the snake oil product.

___________

Voice-over
.
A snake oil salesman has few qualifications, sells phoney medicines using fake evidence. To drive sales, accomplices often kick up a rumpus.

...

An alternate reality game played in public

A conversation of agreement...

.

Not even an alternate fact...

Sergey: Some people live in alternate realities. They inhabit alternate worlds.

.

Mark: Like the "so-called" leader of a certain country?

.

Sergey: He’s playing an alternate reality game. An ARG. One in which he mixes reality and fiction, tweets false stories. He exists but his talk is false.

.

Mark: No harm if it were a game played by a private individual. But when a person who lives their life based on fake news and conspiracies enters public office, in a democratic society, that person is on a collision course with people who live in a more reasoned and evidential universe. Chaos.

.

__________

Voice-over

Where the alternate beliefs of an individual impact on other people disturbance occurs.
.
At a private level, infantilism and indulgence, lying and anger is a pebble dropped in a pond. At the public level, winds blow and the ocean roils.

...

Independence Day 2017

Press conference …

.
WP: Mr T, Did you ever insult women, immigrants, people with disabilities?

.

T: Lies, all lies, never did.

.

WP: Mr T, did you ever deny that climate warming is occurring?

.

T: Of course. It’s a hoax. Everybody knows that.

.

WP: Mr T, did you ever say that President Obama was not born in the U.S.?

.

T: Never did say that.

___________

Voice-over

Get ready for the Freak Show.

So the world now has a U.S. president who uses hate speech, conspiracy theories and false news. Good grief. Despite, or perhaps because of, the media’s best efforts to prevent it, this alien slipped through the air-conditioning grating and took over our planet. America, you sent the alien packing in Independence Day 1996, can’t you fix it this time?

…

2019: Golfing while Washington Burns

Three years from now…

.

Epaphroditus: The game’s up, Nero. The people are demanding elections again.

.

Nero: No problem. Write me some more mud-slinging metaphors like “Drain the swamp” and sound bites like “Build a wall.” Spice them up with conspiracy theories like “Global warming is a hoax”, fake news and hate speech.

.

Epaphroditus: OK, chief.

.

Nero: And I’ll keep tweeting them out there. Ramp up more attacks on more minorities so the masses will get scared and go out and vote. Did the trick in 2016.

.

Epaphroditus: Winning formula. Do the numbers. Uneducated outnumber the educated. 

.

Nero: Can’t lose. And then I just carry on being emperor. Can I go back to my tower now?

____________

Voice-over

History repeats. Populism is something Lenin and Mao tapped into too. 

.

.