Recently there was a story in the news that Trump gave out information about US Submarines operating near the Korean Peninsula. The report or headlines read that Trump divulged classified information about submarines to the Filipino president. There were transcripts of the conversation that many people probably did not even read. But we are so quick to read a headline and believe it, rather than actually taking the time to research the facts.
Submariners that I know were initially up in arms, including myself. You read the headline and wonder, what the fuck!!! But then we started to dig into it, and what was said. There seems to be a consensus among the community that the media spun this story wrong. (I’m being nice here).
The facts is the Philippine government classified the transcript of the conversation.
The media did not cite a source that stated that the information about submarines relayed by Trump was classified. The question exists, did he put people in harms way? Read the transcript and see for yourself.
I bring this up, because now more than ever, we are going to need to rely on the media to get the story right. This can not be about left and right, republicans or democrats. The media needs to be about facts.
Why? Because it takes one spun story sensationalized to have people stop trusting you. Our society, at least in America is all about the rule of law. The media currently waging a battle against this administration because important issues are on the line. The bill of rights are on the line.
What I’m saying is that if you are a big media outlet, and you cover the military, you need to have military experts read your stories. Fact check them, and validate that they will meet the reasonable persons standard of truth. If you have ever been on the other side of a news story, you start to wonder sometimes if the reporter had actually been there, or was playing the old telephone game, and heard the story 3rd or 4th or 5th hand sometimes.
We need our media to be the best at what they do. Photos, audio/video are great for telling a story, experts are important too.
Reuters, who initially published the story that was picked up by other media outlets never said that US officials, or anyone made the claim that the information was classified, they made the claim themselves. If you want to stop people from using the term fake news, you have to stop spinning things. I can’t defend the media, when they do things like this. I know in the fast paced world of news, things happen, but hopefully as more information comes out about Russia, hacking and everything else, we will find out facts, because facts matter.