Ten basic forms of fake news used by major media

Ten basic forms of fake news used by major media

by Jon Rappoport

June 28, 2017

The basic purpose of these ten forms: the presentation of a false picture of reality.

You could find more forms, or divide these ten into sub-categories.

The ten basic forms are:

* Direct lying about matters of fact. (This sometimes includes doubling down on lies already told, or telling a bigger lie after the first one.)

* Leaving out vital information.

* Limited hangout. (This is an admission of a crime or a mistake, which only partially reveals the whole truth. The idea is that by admitting a fraction of what really happened and burying the biggest revelations, people will be satisfied and go away, and the story will never be covered again.)

* Shutting down the truth after publishing it—includes failing to follow up and investigate a story more deeply.

* Not connecting dots between important pieces of data.

* Censoring the truth, wherever it is found (or calling it “fake news”).

* Using biased “experts” to present slanted or false “facts.”

* Repeating a false story many times—this includes the echo-chamber effect, in which a number of outlets “bounce” the false story among themselves.

* Claiming a reasonable and true consensus exists, when it doesn’t, when there are many important dissenters, who are shut out from offering their analysis.

* Employing a panoply of effects (reputation of the media outlet, voice quality of the anchor, acting skills, dry mechanical language, studio lighting, overlay of electronic transmissions, etc.) to create an impression of elevated authority which is beyond challenge.

These are all traditional forms and methods.

Here’s an example of a big story that deployed all ten forms of fake news: the Swine Flu pandemic of 2009.

In the spring of 2009, the World Health Organization (elevated authority whose pronouncements are beyond challenge) announced that Swine Flu was a level-6 pandemic—its highest category of “danger.” In fact, there were only 20 confirmed cases at the time (direct lying about “danger”). And W.H.O. quietly changed the definition of “level-6” so widespread death and damage were no longer required (another aspect of direct lying).

The story was, of course, picked up by major media outlets all over the world (echo chamber effect, fake consensus, never connected dots re W.H.O. lies), and quite soon, Swine Flu case numbers rose into the thousands (direct lying, as we’ll soon see).

Medical experts were brought in to bolster the claims of danger (biased experts; important dissenters never given space to comment).

In the early fall of 2009, Sharyl Attkisson, then a star investigative reporter for CBS News, published a story on the CBS News website. She indicated that the CDC had secretly stopped counting the number of Swine Flu cases in America. No other major news outlet reported this fact (omitting vital information).

Attkisson discovered the reason the CDC had stopped counting: the overwhelming number of blood samples taken from the most likely Swine Flu patients were coming back from labs with: no trace of Swine Flu or any other kind of flu. Therefore, a gigantic hoax was revealed. The pandemic was a dud, a fake.

Despite Attkisson’s efforts, CBS never followed up on her story (shutting down the truth after exposing it). Never probed the lying by the CDC (failure to connect dots). In a sense, CBS turned Attkisson’s story into a limited hangout—a further investigation would have uncovered acres of criminal behavior by both the CDC and the World Health Organization, to say nothing of the governments and media outlets that supported these lying agencies. The mainstream press essentially censored Attkisson’s revelations.

Then, about three weeks after CBS published Attkisson’s story, WebMD published a piece in which the CDC claimed that its own (lying) estimate of 10,000 or so cases of Swine Flu in the US was a gross understatement. Truly, there were 22 MILLION cases of Swine Flu in the US (doubling-down on lying).

And that was that.

And these mainstream sources are currently shouting and bloviating about independent media spreading fake news. I guess you could call that number 11: accusing their opponents of committing the crimes they are, in fact, committing.


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Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.

9 comments on “Ten basic forms of fake news used by major media

  1. Václav Němec says:

    PERFECT!!!

  2. Dana Doran says:

    Zika anyone? There is a book (textbook) “Crafting Truth: Documentary Form and Meaning” by Spence and Navarro (Rutgers University Press), that explains how to convince people that a set of events constitutes facts that are true – even if they aren’t.

  3. truth1 says:

    A good summation of the problem. I would reduce it to this: When all normal and proper obligations of investigation are not taken and not carried out, then that is a form of deception which is also lying. One I have come across in the land of internet shills is the very concept that if an authority tells you something, you should automatically believe them and not question them. Shill depend on this to carry their war against truth and full thorough investigation, like cross-examining informants like authorities and experts, so called.

  4. From Quebec says:

    I guess you could call that number 11: accusing their opponents of committing the crimes they are, in fact, committing (Jon)
    —————————————-

    When politics are involved, this is their biggest tactic.

  5. Thx1138 says:

    “accusing their opponents of committing the crimes they are, in fact, committing.”

    And that is a primary modus operandi of a psychopath or a psychopathic organization.

    • truth1 says:

      Yes, indeed! Hypocrisy! Or, Hypocracy rather than Demon-cracy. The left has long been famous for exploiting character flaws in the reigning status quo power, and after they manage to topple it, they are ten times worse. Again, lies can’t go up against a comparison. It needs to be one sided, with no rebuttal. Note that our media do not allow rebuttals or equal time. Its always one sided.

      Tiberius Caesar said it: Do not do as I do, Do as I say! So how is it we always fall for this crap? When the scum and useless idiots become more numerous than the good and the intelligent, then traitors and saboteurs come out into the open and lead the charge to overthrow.

      And guess what, guys and gals? We have arrived. IQ is out, and selfish bribes are the rage. When people only consider their own situation and not that of the greater good and the long term survival of their nation, cause, concern, then they lose it all because after the saboteurs accomplish the overthrow, they then wipe out the useful idiots as they once called them. They never liked the useful idiots but were happy to use them to achieve their goals, looking forward to the day they could kill all the now suddenly Useless idiots and establish a government much like the one overthrew. Ain’t it a riot?

  6. CPP says:

    I just noticed that the CDC’s mega-fake swine flu number was 22 million, and the number of people it is said will lose insurance under the Republican healthcare bill is also 22 million.

    They like that “master builder” number, 22 — JFK assassination, various terror attacks etc. (Manchester being the most notable: 22nd of May at 22:33, and, reportedly, bomber age 22 and 22 dead. Also, Manchester is located at longitude -2.244644, and, from a YouTube comment, “May 22 is day 142 of the year. 142 minutes is the time 2:22”.)

    Terror events on 22nd reviewed here: (missing from this list is the October 22, 2014 attack at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.)

    http://heavy.com/news/2017/05/terrorist-attacks-on-the-22nd-date-same-day-manchester-lee-rigby-westminster-brussels/

    Found this interesting tidbit in comments on above article: “in roman numerals 9-11 is IXXI or 22 if you add them up 1+10+10+1…the jesuits have a ring with IXXI on it so its a very important symbol to them”

    Also found this in a YouTube comment: “Isaiah 22:22 (the key to governmental authority) I will place on His shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

    More about 22 here: http://gnosticwarrior.com/22.html (that biblical passage is also reiterated on this page, adding, “This number 22 is the gnostic Key to revelation in the Bible, where it is revealed in Isaiah 22.22”)

    YouTube comments cited are from “LambAndTheDragon” and “cc brown” under this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ACLb9ak4I

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