There’s much to learn a google click away

“We rightfully abhor people who’d intentionally spread an actual physical virus, right? So why don’t we apply the same stigma to the people coughing up urban legends into our Facebook newsfeeds and contaminating our Twitter streams?”

Here’s How to Prevent Fake News from Spreading on Social Media
Luke O’Neil, Vice

 


 

There’s much to learn a google click away,
despite which willful ignorance abounds.
A sound byte or a meme cannot convey
enough on any topic making rounds.
Beware of propaganda in the guise
of facts, like memes designed to raise your ire.
Manipulated imagery and lies
succeed when feckless fear and greed conspire.

© 2017 Susan E. Eckenrode

 


 

Beware the Distractions

“THE BIG IDEA: The deconstruction of the administrative state will not be televised.

Donald Trump is eager to look like a man of action, pulling the levers of government and redirecting the ship of state. The president has had a photo op to reinforce this narrative nearly every day since taking office. […] With that in mind, it should speak volumes when Trump does not invite camera crews into the Oval Office to film him taking action. Three recent examples illustrate this:”

 The Daily 202: What Trump didn’t want you to see him signing
The Washington Post


 

Alternative facts,
disguised as reality
encourage those hacks
dispensing banality.
With cyber attacks
distracting democracy,
we’re turning our backs
on silent atrocity.

 

© Susan E. Eckenrode, 2017

 


 

Massive Pro-trump Rally in Atlanta

So they came by the dozens of tens
with their flag waving friends, feeling proud
as they clamored to capture the lens
for a photo that proves they’re a crowd.

 

© Susan E. Eckenrode, 2017

On the White House Correspondents Dinner

“The black-tie dinner, which raises money for journalism scholarships, takes place every spring and is usually attended by the president, journalists, celebrities and Washington insiders. The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan, who sat out because he was he recovering from an assassination attempt in 1981, although he still delivered remarks by phone.

Several news organizations had already withdrawn from the April 29 event in protest of Trump’s treatment of the media.”

 


 

Most presidents agree to join the roasting
but Forty-five won’t have his ego bashed
by journalists dissecting all his boasting
and fabricated facts that Spicer stashed
to cover any questions thrown his way–
A bully dishes dirt but will not play.

© Lily Beth Baker, 2017