When the subject of “fake news” began to dominate the national discourse just after the election last year, I didn’t think we’d still be talking about it all the way here in March of 2017. But it’s a subject and a term that just can’t seem to get past people’s minds or leave their lips.
I certainly didn’t think that the Sun would unearth a local example of fake news in early December of last year, but that’s what happened when we discovered the Santa Maria Police Department and Chief Ralph Martin had issued a “ruse” press release as part of Operation Matador, which arrested 17 alleged MS-13 gang members.
“Ruse” makes it sound like some kind of practical joke, or a game of peekaboo, as opposed to an outright lie.
The press release identified two men as identity thieves who the department said were turned over to Immigration Customs and Enforcement, but really they were valuable witnesses in the case and were in danger. The fake press release was an attempt to throw gang members off their trail and keep the two men safe, and news media outlets KSBY, KEYT, and The Santa Maria Times all took the bait.
In perfect shoot-the-messenger style, plenty of people were mad at us for running the truth once it was discovered. Some argued that we were putting the two witnesses at risk.
Well, besides the fact that the Sun always handles situations like this responsibly, we didn’t name the two from the fake press release. But the fake news release is still up on the department’s Nixle page.
At this point, if those men are in danger, it’s because the police department and Chief Martin have refused to remove their fake news from the site. His refusal demonstrates something everyone already knows: Nobody ever reads the terms of service when signing up for something online.
But the whole meme of fake news actually began to describe fraudulent outlets and reporting that was used to influence the U.S. election last year. Plenty of these fake news outlets were simply in it for the money, but others may have more sinister backing, like a certain super power that may or may not have an interest in destabilizing American democracy.
But hey, “fake news” means something completely different to President Donald Trump, doesn’t it? It seems like basically any outlet that runs or discusses the now numerous ties between his administration and the already alluded to Russia get painted with the phrase.
But things took an even more interesting turn last Saturday, when Trump fired off a few tweets that accused former President Barack Obama of tapping his phones at Trump Tower.
Did the president offer any substantiating evidence? Nope. Why should he? The message here is this, folks, that it’s OK to put out fake news if you’re in a government position, whether president or police chief.
Meanwhile, it’s media outlets that get blamed for all the lies and disinformation. The U.S. has an executive administration that plays fast and loose with the truth and a conspiracy theory president, but it’s all the media’s fault for the mess we’re in now. How convenient!
The Canary is a fake bird that talks real news. Send your thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 9-16, 2017.