When you have a tough day...

April 15, 2018

I correspond with a freelance reporter in South Africa named Ntozakhe Douglas Mthukwane.

Things are tough for Douglas on many levels; He is a journalist in a country that discourages free press, I believe he has a disability he hasn’t disclosed to me yet but I understand it keeps him from easily working as a freelancer, and he is a black man in white superior South Africa.

My last correspondent with him went unanswered and my previous correspondent with him leads me believe he may have lost his apartment and computer.

Douglas, from his Facebook page

“When your email came through I was at a state hospital treated for excessive smoke inhalation. I stay at a block of flats previously designated for 'Whites only' by the apartheid government. So you find very poor white fellows who've practically given up on life still staying there amid an “I don’t care" attitude.

I'm using the description 'white' because it was an apartheid definition supported by various draconian laws.”

Douglas wrote he is using his cell phone to email me because he had to abandon his apartment to escape a fire. Reportedly, a drunk neighbor caught the place on fire after falling asleep while cooking.

“I was woken up by a frenzy accompanied by a thick cloud of smoke and black debris. I could neither see the palm of my own hand let alone the escape route, my flat has one entry door. I heard ambulance and fire brigade sirens outside, kicked the door with my bare feet, and managed to go out. I collapsed only to wake up in hospital 5 hours later.”

He went on to say “I’m okay now.” However, Douglas didn’t answer my last email, which leads me to believe is having difficulty getting re-established.

So, fellow writers, news reporters, photographers and journalists. When you are having a shit day, a monster of a deadline, or you are becoming mentally buried in the current “Fake News!” rhetoric, turn your thoughts to fellow journalist Douglas and wish him well.

I will give you a new report on Douglas after I hear from him.

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March 2024

I have on occasions tried to reach Douglas through email, the only contact I had with him. I hope he got established and is back to reporting and that the only problem is he changed his email address.

The F Word

March 24, 2018

There’s a new “F-word,” and that word is “fake.”

I am talking about the term “fake news,” which, since 2016, has been the way for people of prominence to direct attention away from their mistakes, lies, or flat-out corruption.

For instance, when New Your Times reporters, including David Barstow, Mike McIntire, Patricia Cohen and Russ Buettner, printed reports with data, names, places, and interviews detailing Donald Trump cheating on his taxes.  Trump could have easily prove the reports true or false by simply releasing his business tax reports, as other politicians have done, but chooses not to and instead can only declare, “That’s fake news!”

Oh, what fabulously sweet victory it would be for the Trump to prove the reports false. But stating "Fake news!" is the only thing he can do.

It has been pretty effective, I'm sorry to say.

The President and a few other politicians have done the "Fake news!" thing so much and so often that the responsible news medias have a "credibility complex" it has to deal with, according to a report from one of my online journalism feeds I follow. The credibility the news media is dealing with is due in most to the politicians bleating "Fake news!"

Here is a simple way I explain to non-journalist how to identify if a news source is commonly reports falsehoods: If your favorite news source has never made a correction or a clarification, they are a source of falsehoods and fake news. You see, even the best news sources sometimes make a mistake, and reliable, fact-checking news sources are quick to publicly correct them. Doing so guards and even fortifies their credibility. Fake news sources, however, don't correct mistakes or false information because, ironically, that would damage their credibility to the kind of audience they seek.

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Update April 2024

"Fake news!" is out. "Political scam!" and "Witch hunt!" are in when someone can't produce evidence to defend themselves against allegations and investigations.