Coming to Grips with Unreality
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I looked into my mailbox. An unfamiliar newspaper headline banner screamed, The Epoch Times. Above it, reverse type in a 3"-high orange text box reads: YOU DESERVE REAL NEWS. Empowering YOU with facts, so that YOU can make up YOUR own mind.
Are you kidding me? At the same time U.S. newspapers are struggling to maintain subscriptions and advertising against a digital Armageddon, a company is mailing a SAMPLE EDITION to this "residential customer" in rural Iowa? Hello?
Is this for real? Is this what happens when surveys show so many Americans no longer trust the legacy media?
Here's a snapshot of the stories hyped in the Dec. 27-January 2, 2024 edition of The Epoch Times:
"First Documentary on COVID-19"
"Still Investigating Election Integrity"
"Debunking Russiagate in 2017"
"Exposing Infiltration and Subversion of the U.S.by the CCP"
The CCP? As I learned, The Epoch Times began in 2000 as a low-budget newspaper affiliated with Falun Gong, an obscure Chinese spiritual movement persecuted by the Chinese government. Falun Gong's mission is "saving sentient beings".
The newspaper, a nonprofit, is exempt from most federal taxes. Originally, free copies were handed out on the streets of New York City. It evolved to offer a digital account with print subscriptions. In 2016, it made the move to become a global digital powerhouse, with a right-wing pro-Trump perspective. It created dozens of Facebook pages, populated by viral videos and clickbait. In 2015, it ran into problems when Facebook changed its algorithm for allowing articles in users' newsfeeds, and it was barred from advertising in 2019. It moved to YouTube. In 2020, The Epoch Times began mailing free copies.
Inspiring or Scary?
According to an investigation by The New York Times, The Epoch Times has "tens of millions" of social media followers. It boasts of being the 4th largest newspaper in the U.S., based on subscribers. (It's not audited.) The Epoch Times also publishes newspapers in dozens of countries. Its reporters have attended White House press briefings. No one knows the source of its funding.
It rejects modern science, art, and medicine, and denounces homosexuality and feminism. Yet on July 13, 2023, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) read the history of The Epoch Times on the House floor, saying the paper “seeks to highlight the best of humanity in order to inspire people”.
Really?
One year ago the Marshalltown public library refused a patron's request to purchase a subscription to The Epoch Times. This decision was criticized for its "poor optics" at the same time when librarians were facing legislative edicts to remove children's books (mostly LGBQT). Is subscribing to The Epoch Times a First Amendment issue for librarians? Even as a journalist, it's hard for me to discern its redeeming value.
Out of Touch with Reality
Earlier this week, I received an email, "Dear 'New' NEWSMAX reader".
Who, me?
It continues, "Welcome to the world of NEWSMAX. Unashamedly, we are just like our long-time motto says, 'Independent. American.' We are privately and independently owned, not controlled by any conglomerate or media giant. And we don't take talking points from any political committee. We do, however, stand for the American values you care about."
Why would I receive this? In small print at the bottom, I read, "This email is never sent unsolicited. You have received this Newsmax email because you subscribed to it or someone forwarded it to you." Definitely not true! I made the mistake of using the link to opt out, but now I'm advised that replying won't stop it – it just confirms that my email is good.
Under Attack by Unrealities
What is going on? Far right publications promoting unrealities have invaded both my physical and virtual mailboxes!
In the wake of the Iowa Republican caucus, I'm even more convinced that we're living in an alternate reality. After all, over 50% of Iowa Republican caucus goers chose Donald Trump, a pathological liar with 91 felony counts, as the best candidate to represent them in the White House.
And Iowa's second-place Republican candidate had this to say to Hampton, New Hampshire voters on Wednesday, "Every booster you take, you're more likely to get Covid as a result of it."
Unreal! I'd define unreality as something that most of us would agree simply could not happen. But here are just a few events in the past 25 years of U.S. history when our unrealities dramatically and swiftly became realities.
· September 11, 2001: In less than 90 minutes, the Twin Towers of NYC were destroyed by suicide terrorists who had hijacked four commercial planes.
· November 8, 2016: Reality TV celebrity Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the U.S.
· January 30, 2020: Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic. Over the next 3 years, it killed at least three million people (World Health Organization)
· May 25, 2020: Americans watched over 9 minutes of video showing a Minneapolis police officer killing George Floyd, who was handcuffed, and lying face down on the street. No one intervened to stop him.
· January 6, 2021: For 4+ hours, Americans watched TV coverage of an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, following a rally led by President Donald Trump, who then retreated to the White House to watch the deadly outcome on TV.
· January 28, 2023: A Chinese spy balloon floated over the U.S., until it was ordered shot down by the U.S. Air Force.
On the Front Lines of A.I.
No doubt, there are other unrealities waiting in the wings. Some days I no longer recognize Iowa or the country where I was born. Have we lost our collective moorings?
It's likely to become even worse in the months preceding the 2024 elections. Isn't it tempting to just hunker down until it's all over? Instead, we must actively engage. This upheaval didn't happen overnight, and it's not going away overnight. Somehow we have to come to grips with unreality.
Rapid changes in technology are playing a high-profile role in creating and disseminating these unrealities. We've seen deep fake photos of Trump embracing Anthony Fauci, created by the DeSantis campaign and posted on social media. Another video disseminated by Trump supporters uses A.I. to generate the voice of the late Paul Harvey, in a rip-off from Harvey's 1978 address to the National FFA Convention, "God Made a Farmer." (Harvey died in 2009.) "God Made Trump" was posted on Truth Social, without a disclaimer, portraying him as having a divine mandate.
Another fake "hot mic" moment shown on TikTok, Facebook, X, Truth Social, and Instagram reveals Biden responding to a question about the border, saying, "We're going to make sure those cowboys don't stop the surge of military-age men from entering. If we have to send F-15s to wage war against Texas, so be it."
What can be done to combat technology promoting unhinged realities? Three states passed A.I.-related bipartisan legislation in 2023: Minnesota, Michigan, and Washington. California, Texas, and Wisconsin and a few other states already have passed laws to address the impact on political campaigns.
Michigan has both a ban and disclosure. The use of A.I.-generated deepfakes in political ads is banned 90 days prior to an election, unless there's a separate disclosure that the media (image, video, audio, or text) has been manipulated.
No federal legislation has been passed, but its impact is limited at the state level. Iowa has been quick to move legislation to stop cities from banning gay conversion therapy, but what about protecting voters from untruthful A.I. messages?
Last September, Google announced plans to require political ads to disclose A.I., and in December added it would restrict specific answers to election questions provided by AI tools. Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhasApp) will require disclosures, and Microsoft, and YouTube are taking steps in the lead-up to the 2024 election. Open AI (chatbot ChatGPT)will embed watermarks into images. Is it enough?
Time for a Reality Check
Distrust in information, media, and government escalates in times of rapid, chaotic change. Trust is critical. We need to focus on educating Americans in media literacy, and on training students to discern fact from fiction and exercise critical thinking.
But while we figure out how to do this, we must place our trust in our local communities, and governments close to home. In today's post-truth era, we must find the courage to remain stewards of the public interest and the public good, and continue moving forward. We must continue to show up, and trust the process to work.
After all, we still have the capacity to create significant, positive outcomes in this seemingly chaotic world. Astoundingly positive unrealities are possible, too. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is one example. It's likely to require a similar unreality in 2024 to pry open an escape hatch from our current reality.
We humans cling to a normalcy bias which allows us to minimize or ignore warnings while we pursue our desire to feel safe, in control, and to predict the near future. Author Adam Kirsch goes so far as to suggest that people want to be lied to. He explains, "That is why the lie is so seductive: It allows the liar and his audience to cooperate in changing the nature of reality itself in a way that can appear almost magical."
In the same sense, psychoanalyst Carl Jung stated, "People cannot stand too much reality." An entire genre of TV falls into the category of "reality." I've never been a fan of reality TV, or even understood its appeal. I'm told that no one who watches it believes it's actually real.
If only there was a way to shove Donald Trump back behind our reality TV screen, where he belongs. And to make sure his last hit alternative reality TV show begins with the premise that he's confined to a jail cell.
I’m delighted to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative!
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Thank you for your shocking look at today’s reality/unreality. People who value truth will need to continually seek out and support each other. One important reason I value the Iowa Writers Collaborative!