Mark Twain once said “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”
But that’s not true!
Well, the sentiment is sincere. But this adage was attributed to Twain in 1919. The problem is, Twain died in 1910.
The original line is probably came from Jonathan Swift,[i] who said,
Besides, as the vilest Writer has his Readers, so the greatest Liar has his Believers; and it often happens, that if a Lie be believ’d only for an Hour, it has done its Work, and there is no farther occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect…
Swift wrote that in 1710. But he might be talking about today.
In 2012, angry mobs protesting a YouTube video mocking Muhammad, the central figure of Islam, stormed U.S. embassies in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen. Tragically, armed militants attacked the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Four years and $7 Million dollars later, the House Select Committee on Benghazi issued its 800-page final report finding no evidence of culpability or wrongdoing by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Yet dark rumors and fake news stories concerning Mrs. Clinton continued to swirl on the internet — even after she gave 8 hours of sworn public testimony. No one ever found any actual harm but the constant play of insinuations about her helped give credence to the meme of “Crooked Hilary,” and helped doom her candidacy for President in 2016.
Fake news also played a role in the surprise result of the Brexit referendum that year, when the United Kingdom narrowly voted to leave the European Union. Other western-aligned powers began to notice their politics scrambled by a sudden flood of fake news stories.
Much hostility has been displayed toward the news media since then. Certain politicians fling disturbing and dangerous epithets as “enemies of the people,” “the fake news media,” “the corrupt news media,” “the lying press,” “the failing New York Times,” and so on. Such officials are likely to dismiss any unfavorable news story as “fake news.”
T-shirts for sale at recent campaign rallies read “Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required.”
I take that personally, as my brother Ross writes for the ThomsonReuters news wire service. My brother, a financial journalist, writes mostly about stock prices and shareholder resolutions. But Ross has also written about institutional investors and their policies toward firearms manufacturers like Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger. So, for me and my family, there’s a lot at stake.
But even more than overheated rhetoric and nasty threats, what frightens me most is hearing otherwise sensible adults saying things like “I give up — you can’t tell who to trust anymore!”
Our constitution guarantees freedom of the press because representative democracy assumes an informed citizenry. Now democratically elected political leaders do not always love the press. But autocrats, dictators and would-be tyrants always attack the press with such smears. They oppose the very idea of truth. If our citizens give up believing that we can distinguish falsehood from truth in our own free press, then our democracy is in serious trouble.
On this Yom Kippur we read from Torah portion Nitzavim. Moses enjoins the Israelites in a commandment that is both ringing and intimate:
כִּ֚י הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לֹֽא־נִפְלֵ֥את הִוא֙ מִמְּךָ֔ וְלֹ֥א רְחֹקָ֖ה הִֽוא׃
For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, nor too remote.
לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֤נוּ הַשָּׁמַ֙יְמָה֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃
It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven and bring it down to us, that we may do it?”
וְלֹֽא־מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיָּ֖ם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲבָר־לָ֜נוּ אֶל־עֵ֤בֶר הַיָּם֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃
Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross the sea for us and bring it over to us, that we may do it?”
כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃
No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
Moses is talking about the Torah. But our Torah has always been considered a synonym for truth! Just look at the blessings we have recited for centuries over the Torah and the prophets. After the reading of the Torah: “Blessed be our Eternal, Majestic G!d; for You have given us a Torah of truth!”
Before the haftarah, the reading from the prophets that accompanies each week’s Torah portion:
Blessed be our eternal, majestic G1d: You have chosen faithful prophets to speak words of truth. Blessed be the Eternal One… for your prophets of truth and righteousness.
As the blessing after the haftarah concludes, “faithful God whose word is deed, whose every command is just and true… May Your name be blessed for ever by every living being for your word is true for ever.”
On this Yom Kippur, Let us repent of weakness in discernment, renewing our commitment to truth. Moses’ advice, that the Torah, and therefore the truth, is not too hard to discern but is rather in our mouths and in our hearts, will inoculate us from falsehood in the news media, enhance our confidence to identify fake news, and empower us to distinguish truth from falsehood for ourselves and each other.
Just what do we mean by fake news, anyway? The term “fake news” is ambiguous. It can be a description, a shield, or a weapon, depending on how it is used. But what if I said that Fake news is:
- The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause or a person; or
- Ideas, facts or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause; also: a public action having such an effect.
Isn’t that the essence of ‘fake news’? Actually, that’s the definition of “Propaganda” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. If we drop the fraught and ambiguous phrase “fake news” and call it what it really is: “propaganda,” a whole lot becomes much clearer.[ii]
Hostile foreign powers, especially Russia, but also Iran, China, or other nations or transnational actors, are the source of most fake news propaganda. A “troll” is someone who deliberately posts in a social media form to stir up trouble and upset people. A “troll farm” is an organized operation of many users who may work together in a “factory” — such as Russia’s notorious Internet Research Agency based in St. Petersburg — or across a network to generate online traffic aimed at affecting public opinion, and to spread misinformation and disinformation.[iii] Russia and other hostile nations have been used troll farms, focusing on social media applications like Twitter and Facebook for asymmetric information warfare against the United States and other democracies.
The news media itself must bear some responsibility for the situation. So must the technology industry. Because it got attention, the news media allowed too much disinformation and propaganda to circulate for far too long. Meanwhile, what began as a fun way to socialize online became itself a significant news source. Both the news and the technology industries are just beginning to approach the truth with greater rigor.
As Americans and especially as Jews, we and our ancestors have benefited richly from democratic governments and market economies. When democracy is threatened by autocracy and free, fair exchange by oligarchy and plutocracy, it’s not just a public concern. It’s a Jewish issue.[iv]
So, how exactly do we distinguish real news from propaganda? When looking at any news item we can take a breath, remember that the truth is close by and ask: First, is it credible? Second, Is it playing on our preconceived notions and beliefs? And third, can we confirm or disprove it using some simple, easily available tools?
First, is it credible? Would you cite this article in a term paper? What is the quality of the writing? Is it timely? From which publication, broadcast, or domain did it originate? What is the author and the publication’s point of view?
I have started to read the “About us” page before I look at any unfamiliar internet site.
In the era of photoshop, seeing is not necessarily believing! Beware of altered or doctored photographic evidence.
Anytime someone reacts to unfavorable coverage by labeling it “Fake News,” we can ask: What facts rebut the story? Who benefits from calling it ‘fake news’? If that person labeled it “propaganda,” would you believe them?
When a candidate for congress produces a diploma ‘proving’ she graduated with a degree, but then her putative college not only denies she ever graduated but even denies that it offers the degree she claimed, be suspicious. By the time she cries ‘fake news!’ she’s already busted. And now she’s on probation. Yes, that really happened.
Second: we can distinguish real news from propaganda by being aware of our own biases.
On October 27, 1941, before the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his Navy Day Address. Roosevelt strongly advocated arming American merchant ships and deploying the U.S. Navy to protect American and British shipping in the North Atlantic Ocean. He did not yet call for a declaration of war, which was still unpopular among the American public. But FDR did assert:
“I have in my possession a secret map made in Germany by Hitler’s government — by the planners of the New World Order. It is a map of South America and a part of Central America, as Hitler proposes to reorganize it. Today in this area there are fourteen separate countries. …Berlin, however, would ruthlessly obliterate all existing boundary lines and divide South America into five vassal states, bringing the whole continent under their domination. And they have also so arranged it that the territory of one of these new puppet states includes the Republic of Panama and our great life-line: the Panama Canal! That is his plan. It will never go into effect.”
Roosevelt painted a chilling picture, giving a compelling reason to defend the North Atlantic sea lanes and support Britain and the Soviet Union in their fight against Nazi Germany. Can you imagine Nazi Germany in control of the Panama Canal by 1942?
Imagine my surprise to learn that Roosevelt’s map came from the British Intelligence service MI6.[v] In order to influence American public opinion toward entering the Second World War, MI6 fed propaganda to American newspapers and radio. Roosevelt received at least 3 false documents like the South American map. That’s right, the British ran a troll farm long before the Russians! (So was there collusion? It’s not clear whether or not FDR knew his map was a forgery.) But the point is that it was plausible. Given the ruthless way Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union erased Poland from Europe, FDR’s South American map was easy to believe.
Clever propaganda often shows what is easy to believe, or what we want to believe. It makes use of confirmation bias. That is, the tendency to accept information that confirms our beliefs and dismiss information that does not. We seek data that make us secure in our pre-existing beliefs because it feels good!
The Ninth Commandment forbids us from bearing false witness against our neighbors. A chasidic comment on the Ninth Commandment says, “an observant Jew will not lie to others; but a truly pious Jew will not even lie to him- or herself!” Beware confirmation bias and self-deception.
Third: We can do our own research. Tools like FactCheck.org, International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), PolitiFact.com, or Snopes.com are free, non-partisan, and easily available. By the way, I’ve noticed Snopes calls it ‘junk news.’ I still prefer to call it what it is: propaganda.
Thanks to my brother Ross, my web browser is now equipped with the News Guard extension. This free browser plug-in assesses the credibility and transparency of news websites and displays ratings in search and social media feeds. It gives an immediate green or red evaluation, and a full “nutrition label” ranking the site on 9 different factors such as whether they handle the difference between news and opinion responsibly, regularly correcting or clarifying errors, and revealing who’s in charge, including potential conflicts of interest. The New York Times and the Washington Post each get 9/9. Fox News is green, with 6 out of 9. It helps that Fox makes no secret of its conservative bias. The most scurrilous news source I know, Infowars, makes me feel ashamed just by looking at it. But I was surprised to find that even Infowars scores green on 4 out of News Guard’s 9 factors. Also by the way — I’ve bought a subscription to the Indy Star. Paper copies will be arriving to the Temple. Paper really is better for some things — like the news. Community newspapers need and deserve our support.
Moses’s exhortation is its own nechemta, word of consolation. We need not fear. The Torah and the truth are in our heads for us to speak and in our hearts for us to act.
We can be confident in discerning the truth: By asking if it’s credible; by checking for confirmation bias; and by checking facts with reliable tools like Snopes, Politifact, and factcheck.org, and installing the NewsGuard extension.
In the Talmud, the Rabbis ask, “How do we know the truth is more stable than lies?”[vi] The Hebrew word for truth, Emet, is spelled aleph, mem, and tav. (As some of our young religious school kids could sing for you) Aleph is the first letter, Mem is the middle letter, and Tav is the final letter of the aleph-bet. But the Hebrew word for lies, Shakeir, is spelled shin, kuph, and resh, which are three out of the final four letters of the Aleph-Bet. You see, Emet stands firmly astride the whole aleph-bet, while Shakeir teeters precariously upon its end.
If I could, I would make a claymation film of the battle between our hero Emet the sumo wrestler versus his arch-nemesis, the villain Shakeir. Shakeir would unleash a devastating kick right into Emet’s belly. But thanks to his firm foundation, our hero Emet can never be knocked over! Shakeir’s narrow foot disappears into Emet’s bulk. With no other foot to stand on, Shakeir’s head makes a pleasant slapping sound on the mat. Game over! The ref holds up the mighty hand and outstretched arm of Emet the Truth in triumph!
In this new year of 5780, may real news prevail over phony propaganda, may democracy prevail over authoritarianism, and may truth prevail over lies. May we take comfort in knowing our Torah of Truth is so very near to us: as close as our mouth so that we may speak it and as our
heart that we may do it. May we all be inscribed and sealed in the book of life for a joyful, healthy, and honest new year.
[i] N.Y. Times; Quote Investigator
[ii] Now at this point my brother Ross wanted to know: is there any fake news — excuse me, propaganda — in the Torah? (I said, Well of course there is! Everything is in the Torah.) Ross and I found at least 3 examples of fake news in our Torah of truth: the snake, the spies, and the smooth-talking Gibeonites.
The first fake news in the Torah, and my brother’s favorite, is an example cited by none other than that great Jewish sage, Pope Francis. In Genesis chapter 3 the Serpent says to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’” She replies, “It’s only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’ Then the Serpent said to the woman, ‘You won’t really die… but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, who knows good and evil!’”
Well, you know how that story ends. Ross, Pope Francis and I all think that that sneaky snake used trickery and subterfuge in addition to the facts in order to sway The Woman’s opinion and affect her decision making; all for the purpose of injuring God’s cause of protecting the tree and advancing its own cause of disseminating it.
Our second example of propaganda in the Torah is the spies of Torah portion Shlakh-l’kha, who conflate their news reporting with editorial opinion. In Numbers, chapter 13, Moses identifies reputable men of each tribe and charges them with a simple fact finding mission with specific questions about the country, its people, their dwellings and fortifications, its agriculture, plus a short grocery list: “And take pains to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” After 40 days, the men return – hauling a cluster of grapes so large it takes two men to shlep it – and make their report. They add: “We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we are; the land devours its settlers. We even saw giants, who were so large we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s how we must have looked next to them.”
News is about facts: who, what, when, where and how. Editorials are for opinion. The spies have given the news when they answer Moses’ questions with factual answers. But they have added their own conclusions. Mixing editorial content with the facts — especially when labeling the result as ‘news’ — is a recipe for fake news; or propaganda. When a news story ventures beyond answering “who, what, when, where, and how,” into “why,” be suspicious.
Third, and my personal favorite: Joshua & the Gibeonites. At end of chapter 8 of the book of Joshua, the Israelites have wreaked havoc on the Canaanite cities of Jericho, Bethel, and Ai. At the start of Joshua chapter 9 the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizites, Hivites, and Jebusites band together grimly to resist the Israelite invasion. But the inhabitants of Gibeon take a different approach: They take worn out saddlebags for their donkeys, cracked and parched waterskins, put on threadbare clothes and ragged sandals, and take only dry, crumbly bread for provisions. They come to Joshua and the Israelites and say: “We’re from very far away… and we’d like to propose a pact with you.” Joshua and the Israelites are suspicious, but they conclude the pact, only to discover that they have been hoodwinked! That’s right, the Gibeonites spread ideas, information in order to further their own cause of protecting themselves from the Israelite invasion at the expense of other Canaanites. The Israelites keep their end of the bargain and spare the Gibeonites lives. But the Israelites subjugate them by making them serve as wood choppers and water carriers.
[iii] USA Today, “Mueller Investigation: What is a Troll Farm?” Feb. 16, 2108
[iv] If you’re not convinced yet, ask Professor Deborah Lipstadt. Dr. Lipstadt is a historian who famously defended herself from a libel action by British Holocaust Denier David Irving twenty years ago. She notes that back then, Holocaust denial was a fringe activity. But today, when opinion masquerades as fact, Holocaust denial has found rich new fertilizer.
[v] Henry Heming, Our Man in New York (History Hit Podcast)
[vi] BT Shabbat, 104a
