The alternative news lie

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

I posted an article on Facebook about how social media is increasing stress levels of Americans (it wasn't even a political article). One of my Facebook friends commented on my post about how the Press Herald is "alternative news". Portland Press Herald out of Portland, ME has been around for a long time. I try to be pretty understanding of different view points, but this really got to me. The commentor isn't even a conservative. He is some sort of weird independent, but he buys into some of the bs that the Republicans have been peddling... like he believed the lies about Hillary Clinton. Now I find out that he has no respect of the good newspapers in the area. This really bothered me and I unfriended him immediately and deleted his comments. I'm not going to argue with this guy anymore if he is going to trash good newspapers as alternative news. I'm not sure why this put me over the edge, but I just am getting really bothered by people claiming that all these respectable news sources are garbage. They have no respect for good journalism, writing, or even education in general. These people are wearing me down. I'm tired of having to deal with them.

[samnsara]

1. good for you. Just unfriend them....

I unfriended my own sister and blocked many others. I have no tolerance for these people. They obviously have forfeited any claim to intellectual reasoning. They did, after all, back trump.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

2. This guy was a Stein voter

Seems like he thinks anything mainstream is a lie. He was kind of annoying me with his attitude on other things too. Like he is holier than thou when it comes to food.

[haele]

3. People who blow off easily verifiable reports of events they don't like as "alternative news"

Are snowflakes who want to live in a snowglobe along with other like snowflakes. It's all a pretty, reinforced world to live in until reality knocks you off your counter and shatters the globe.

I always research reports that appear to be designed to affect me emotionally.
Especially stories about people that do not seem to be based on a track record of verifiable activity, or stories that seem to verge on action-movie hysteria that originate from a single unverifiable source (I.e., homicidal child sex slavery in a secret basement of a pizza parlor...)

Tell your friend that the only alternative is opinion and speculation from a single source or echo chamber.
Everything else should be researched before discounting. News is a reporting of a verifiable event with the basic "Who, What, When, Where, and Why".

Haele

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

5. Funny thing about it was that it was a pretty standard news story

I wasn't expecting that reaction at all. It's like he saw it was from the Press Herald and decided to attack it just for that reason.

[HopeAgain]

4. I am seeing intolerance for news everywhere when it doesn't fit a person's worldview.

I even see it on here. Quite a bit, actually.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

6. That's a shame.

I haven't noticed it here. I don't doubt it happens though.