Publisher’s Note: Thanks to New Mexico radio journalist Paul Ingles for curating this Fake News and Real Journalism conversation for Albuquerque’s KUNM radio. The six ingredients of REAL NEWS from the transcript of our conversation follow. Interested in a free e-copy of our new book The Post (Truth) World? Email publisher AT vermontindependent.net. And this June 1, 2020 Off-Guardian analysis of the “riots” now engulfing 150 US cities assesses the consequences of fake news stories – how news and information can be weaponized – in the age of US empire.

We all have to do our own personal vetting on what information and journalism is trust-worthy and, importantly, worthy of sharing. We are all TOO EAGER to share a post that confirms our own biases.

Let’s agree to be more careful about first reading it, before posting it, to see if it passes this 6 step filter for what is quality journalism and “real news” — as spelled out by media scholar Rob Williams on this month’s PEACE TALKS RADIO episode.

ROB WILLIAMS: The term “fake news” is a new term for really what is an old phenomenon and that is the phenomenon of propaganda. To be clear, what we mean by propaganda is simply one-sided information published to persuade.

Let’s talk about real news as opposed to fake news or propaganda. Real news has six elements. 

Real news is storied information that is 

#1: recent,

#2: relevant, which is to say it’s news that we can use,

#3: it’s reliable, which is to say it’s transparently sourced. None of this “sources said,” or “authorities said.” Let’s be clear about where the information is coming from. 

#4: it has a sense of historical context. 

#5: it is what I like to say, “hegemonically hip,” which is simply to say it foregrounds power relations,

#6: it is harmonious or has multiple points of view.

Recent, relative, reliable, historical, hegemonic and harmonious. If a news story, a purported news story doesn’t meet those six simple criteria, then it is probably not a news story.

What I say to people is rather than take your news faithfully on a channel by channel or network by network or personality by personality basis [as in “Tucker Carlson always serves it up straight,” or “Rachel Maddow always serves it up straight”] TREAT EACH NEWS STORY ON ITS OWN TERMS (applying the 6 elements of real news).

Doing this requires a little bit more discernment of course, a little bit more intellectual effort of course, but this is the situation that we find ourselves in. If you can think critically about news on a story by story basis, then we will be in much better shape than we are currently. This is where critical media literacy really comes into play.”