Daily Archives: February 15, 2022

Four reasons why love is good for your health – Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: February 15, 2022 at 5:45 am

As insufferable couples the world over celebrate Valentines Day, those of us not in relationships can only sit by in silence, watching on as they shower each other in overpriced flowers, heart-shaped gifts and general soppiness.

But while the loved-up legions snog, smooch and snuggle, spare a thought for those who arent so lucky, especially those in later life. A new study published by the School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California has shown that loneliness in middle age and beyond can lead to a significantly higher chance of heart disease.

Its something that Sandeep Jauhar, cardiologist and author of Heart: A History, knows only too well. We know that grief or heartbreak has harmful effects on the heart and we know that people who are in unhappy relationships with their spouses tend to have more cardiac events, he says. But the question is, does being in love have direct biological effects on the heart?

And the answer, it appears, is yes. As a cardiologist with over 20 years experience, Jauhar has noted how those patients who have reported being in love or who are in a stable and happy relationship not only have better outcomes after suffering cardiac events but also tend to live longer.

While many studies concentrate on the negative effects of loneliness, there isnt a great deal of data on what being in love actually does to the heart but it stands to reason that emotional resilience, less stress and feeling in love are all tremendously beneficial for the heart, he says.

Certainly, the idea of heartbreak, or what Jauhar calls broken heart syndrome, does have direct biological effects on the heart. Termed takotsubo cardiomyopathy, it was first described by doctors in Japan and detailed how the heart becomes weaker after an episode of grief or stress like, for instance, the passing of a life partner or the end of a long-term relationship. Symptoms can often replicate the same sensations experienced during a heart attack, with patients often reporting shortness of breath and chest pain.

We also know, from old epidemiological studies, that spouses tend to die within one year of each other, adds Jauhar. But while there is a lot of evidence to show how emotional distress has negative effects, like broken heart syndrome, there are benefits from positive emotions like love that lead to increases in the parasympathetic nervous system, which can promote blood vessel dilation and other salutary effects that probably alleviate cardiac conditions.

But they arent the only benefits

If youre in a happy relationship youre less likely to suffer from the negative consequences of depression and anxiety. Studies have shown that being in love helps your body to produce more oxytocin the hormone that plays a key part in everything from trust and empathy to social behaviour to sexual reproduction and that, in turn, prompts the brain to release more dopamine and adrenaline, which is why your heart beats faster and why you feel happier.

Relationships are good at keeping a lid on stress. In a study from the University of Utah that looked at cohabiting couples, it was found that when they were separated for up to a week, they all registered higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as suffering from disturbed sleep when they were apart. When they were reunited, the cortisol declined while levels of oxytocin rose once more.

Anyone in a long-term relationship will find that theyre more motivated to ditch all those unhealthy habits they might have, like smoking or heavy drinking, thanks to the support and encouragement they'll receive from their partner. In a study published in the journal Psychology Today, it was found that if one half of a relationship was to stop drinking alcohol, the other half would be five times more likely to do the same. Being happy with your partner can also inspire you to achieve your fitness goals as youll feel more supported and more confident in your abilities. The extra adrenaline youll produce when youre working out will also act as an appetite suppressant so itll work wonders for the waistline, too.

All of the above means those in stable long-term relationships live longer. One study, by the State University of New York at Oswego revealed that when couples are together it leads to a fall in blood pressure for both parties, while academics at Harvard University found that married women are up to 20 per cent less likely to die of stress-related reasons than their single counterparts. Its even more pronounced for married men who are up to 200 per cent less likely to pass away because of issues like cirrhosis of the liver and heart disease.

Read the original here:
Four reasons why love is good for your health - Telegraph.co.uk

Posted in Human Longevity | Comments Off on Four reasons why love is good for your health – Telegraph.co.uk

Your Biggest Health and Wellness Questions For 2022 Answered – Longevity LIVE – Longevity LIVE

Posted: at 5:45 am

You might have found yourself here because youre looking for ways to better your health and wellness this year. Perhaps you have several questions about what else you can do to really take your health over the edge in 2022. Longevity Live Paid Content.

Look no further, weve compiled a list of the biggest questions people might ask themselves when looking to get a little healthier this year and figure out the answers. Read along to see what weve found out!

By now weve all heard about Apple watches, Fitbits, health tracking jewelry, and calorie counting apps. There are certainly numerous products out there for you to take your personal health and wellness to the next level.

Its almost overwhelming, but you might find yourself wondering if there is anything new out there that might dial you in closer to your health. Vessel Health has come up with a product that is so cool, its almost unbelievable. It will help give you the right ratio of mindfulness vs. fitness.Vessel Healths in-home wellness tracker is a tool you can use to get real-time numbers for the nutrients your body needs on a daily basis. All youve got to do is download the app for your phone, and pee on the test strips provided.

After youve completed this, you scan the QR code on the test strip and the app will give you a digital readout of your vitamin levels, your pH balance, and more. It is truly an incredible way to fine-tune the foods you are putting into your body. With this app, you can customize your diet to make sure youve got enough of the nutrients that your body needs on a day-to-day basis.

Personal health and wellness doesnt just stop with your own body, as many people consider their pets to be a part of the family and their health is just as much of a priority as your own. We want to keep them healthy and happy as long as we possibly can.

One interesting thing weve learned is that the new CBD phenomenon isnt solely for humans. Many people are having a good bit of success using CBD for dogs. The benefits of CBD on our four-legged friends are similar to that of their human counterparts. CBD in dogs will support their joints, improve brain function, help with digestion, and keep your pet calm. All of these things will in turn keep your dog healthy and happy for years to come.

Another way to improve the health of your dog is to take a look at what they are eating. Dieting has a huge effect on the overall wellness of our furry friends. Superfoods are often thought about as part of the human diet, but our dogs shouldnt be looked over when it pertains to them. Foods such as chia seeds come to mind when we think of the term superfoods, but can dogs eat chia seeds?

The answer to this question is yes, although youll want to make sure they can get them down easily by soaking them. Chia seeds offer immense amounts of nutrients including phosphorus, zinc, iron, potassium, and magnesium as well as numerous antioxidants. Chia seeds promote digestion, strengthen cells, and promote shiny smooth coats among many other health benefits. They are a wonderful and easy way to increase the level of health our dogs need.

Perhaps youre not living as clean as youd like, and youve tried just about everything to start living a better sober life? Youre not alone. Many people struggle with the grasp of addictions each and every single day. If this sounds like you, you might be inclined to reach out for help. The folks at Venice addiction treatment are here for you, whatever you might need.

They offer help with sober living, conducting private meetings, and personal transformation services. There is always someone willing to lend a helping hand and get you started on the right path to living a long, healthy, sober life worth living.

Are you using supplements to boost your health and wellness, but not necessarily seeing the results youre looking for? Many of us are looking for new ways to kick-start our health regiment, and there are some good ways to do just that.

If youre looking to hang on to your youth, you might be in the market for an anti-aging supplement. Supplements containing fatty acids are best to reduce the effects of aging, as well as promote a healthier metabolism and immune systems.

If youre looking to dust off your reusable water bottle and get back into the gym, Nugenix GH Boost might be right for you. This product is a nighttime formula that revitalizes your bodys growth hormones and helps you look like your best self. The best part is it contains no steroids, no banned substances, no stimulants, and is not habit-forming. You can trust that youll get all the results, without the fluff.

Healthy living in this day and age is starting to trend in a much more organic and natural direction, and for good reason. There are a ton of benefits to ditching the traditional forms of healthcare products. Organics are everywhere these days, in foods, medicines, and there are even organic pads. The benefits of organics include natural ingredients, no hormones, and no unnatural substances that might be added as filler.

As weve already touched on with our pets, CBD is a great, natural way to feel better every single day. Benefits include calmness, pain relief, immune system support, overall sense of well-being. Before considering using CBD, we recommend looking into how much CBD you should take daily in order to dial in the ideal dose for your body.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

There are few things we care about more than our kids. However, we might have some questions like, how do we improve digestion? Or perhaps what kinds of medicines and supplements should we be giving them?

Toddler vitamins are a great way to jumpstart their little bodies and immune systems. We suggest ones without synthetic fillers and ingredients. Removing sugars, preservatives, and chemicals from their vitamins is a great way to improve their diet quickly. Perhaps your young ones are often congested at night, but youre wary of over-the-counter meds. There is a Mucinex alternative for kids. Genexa makes plenty of clean medicines for your child that you should try. There are many ways we can clean up our kids systems, these few just scratch the surface of healthier living for your wee one.

If you have questions about how you can improve your health and wellness this year, youre not alone. Hopefully, this article can help answer a few of those for you, and perhaps even give you some ideas that are a little outside the box.

Excerpt from:
Your Biggest Health and Wellness Questions For 2022 Answered - Longevity LIVE - Longevity LIVE

Posted in Human Longevity | Comments Off on Your Biggest Health and Wellness Questions For 2022 Answered – Longevity LIVE – Longevity LIVE

After Two Decades, Epik High Is Still Here and Still Shaping the Future of Korean Music – Vanity Fair

Posted: at 5:45 am

Before there was BTS or BigBang, there was Epik High. Ask anyone whos been listening to K-pop for more than a few years, and chances are theyd know Epik High because the pioneering Korean hip-hop trio has had a profound and far-reaching influence on Korean popular music. With K-pop icons such as BTS, Seventeen, and B.I citing them as an inspiration, Epik High is the musicians musicians. And on Monday, February 14, they released Epik High Is Here(Part 2), the second half of their latest two-part albumtheir tenth full-length album in their two-decade-long career.

There was a lot that we wanted to say, and we felt like we couldnt do that with just one album, Epik High frontman Tablo tells Vanity Fair. Also, we were in a situation where the whole world was under quarantine for the first part of this album, so we knew that it was gonna be a long-term period of difficulty for everyone.

Released in January 2021, Epik High Is Here (Part 1) was met with great acclaim, landing in the top 10 on U.S. iTunes and on Spotifys Top 10 Album Debuts charts both in the U.S. and globally. Just over a year later, Epik Highs much-anticipated follow-up is their most personal and powerful work yeta thoughtful retrospective on their 20-year journey recounted in 12 wide-ranging tracks. Epik High Is Here(Part 2) is a rich, eclectic mix of free-flowing rhymes and soaring melodies drawn from hip-hop, pop, indie rock, and other various genres, and it may just provide the emotional outlet we all need as we continue to deal with the ongoing pandemic.

Who in 2022 is not feeling confused, angry, or lost? No one. We wanted this album to be something that grows with people throughout this entire period of difficulty, says Tablo.

Composed of Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz, Epik High was formed in 2001 before hip-hop waswidely mainstreamin South Korea. The trio didnt readily receive much recognition because their lyrics were deemed too complex and their sound too unlike the typical K-pop songs that dominated the airwaves at the time. But in 2005, they found mainstream success with their third album, Swan Songs, (originally meant to be their last), which featured the hit single Fly. Shortly after releasing Fly, they won the top spot on a popular Korean music show.

It was rare to see a Korean hip-hop group on those shows, but it was nearly impossible to get number one, Tablo explains. We were up against [K-pop group] TVXQat the peak of their popularity, and everyone was telling us congratulations for trying, but we actually won. That was a huge moment because it was also the moment that Korean hip-hop became recognized on national TV. I think that was the turning point.

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Today, the alternative hip-hop trio is widely credited with being one of the first acts to infuse hip-hop and rap into South Koreas mainstream music. Since their inception, Epik High has worked with artists across genres, helping inspire subsequent crossovers and collaborations in the Korean music industry and introducing a variety of sounds into K-pop and Korean hip-hop. Although their penchant for combining rap and hip-hop with elements of pop, rock, and even classical was initially considered too niche and experimental, its partly thanks to their pioneering efforts that weve heard these disparate genres often woven into K-pop songs over the years.

Whats amazing is that every artist that weve supposedly influenced takes it to another level, says Tablo. They will influence a bunch of other people that will take it even further. I would love it to be this domino effect.

Visit link:
After Two Decades, Epik High Is Still Here and Still Shaping the Future of Korean Music - Vanity Fair

Posted in Human Longevity | Comments Off on After Two Decades, Epik High Is Still Here and Still Shaping the Future of Korean Music – Vanity Fair

Bulldust assymetry factor, in fake news – News – The University of Sydney

Posted: at 5:43 am

Fake news has been around for thousands of years. Nero was falsely accused of playing the fiddle while Rome burned. But today, thanks to the internet and social media, a lie can travel around the world before the truth has even got out of bed.

Fake news has two advantages it spreads very quickly, and the time taken to set the record straight is much greater than it took to tell the original lie.

Back in 2013, an Italian programmer, Alberto Brandolini, watched an Italian political talk show where a journalist was sparring with an Italian ex-Prime Minister.

Brandolini quickly saw how easy it was to make incorrect claims, but how hard they were to debunk. On the spot, he invented Brandolinis Law, also known as the (to put it politely) the Bulldust Asymmetry Factor, or the BAF.

One of his early versions runs, The amount of energy needed to refute bulldust is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it. (An order of magnitude is scientific talk for ten times more).

Its much easier to spread lies, than truth. Thats why the middle word in BAF is asymmetry.

Heres three lies for you climate change isnt real, NASA/BOM have been faking the temperature readings, and how the heck can a tiny amount of carbon dioxide affect anything? I can say those lies in under 7 seconds, but it takes about 15 minutes to carefully explain just how and why they are wrong. In this case, the BAF, or Bulldust Asymmetry Factor, is about 120.

When somebody strings together a whole bunch of bulldust into a single outburst, they already have a few advantages.

First, they have the so-called first-mover advantage. Yep, a lot of people will accept the first thing they read.

Second, in many cases, its easier to tell lies than the truth, because for each single truth, there are a thousand lies.

Third, people who spread bulldust are often quite happy to fudge the facts, to quote data out of context, and to never admit that they make mistakes. This means they can generate enormous amounts of bulldust very quickly.

To spread fake news, it helps to eloquently deliver torrents of words, which are impressive because of their sheer volume. They can overwhelm their opponent by an enormous number of claims, regardless of the fact they are wrong. It also helps the spreading of fake news to quote scientific concepts totally out of context.

For example, it is often claimed that the Second Law of Thermodynamics proves that Evolution is wrong, when in reality it has nothing to do with Evolution but you might not know that if you hadnt studied Physics.

In 1931, a book entitled 100 Authors Against Einstein was published. Einsteins response was succinct, If I were wrong, then one (author) would have been enough!

Getting back to the asymmetry, an old proverb runs, a fool throws a stone into a well, but it takes 100 wise people to get it out again.

In todays world, the bottomless well of social media and the internet, is making the task of the wise people even more unrelenting.

Read more here:

Bulldust assymetry factor, in fake news - News - The University of Sydney

Posted in Fake News | Comments Off on Bulldust assymetry factor, in fake news – News – The University of Sydney

Letter: Fake News and Lies | Letters to the Editor – Arizona Daily Star

Posted: at 5:43 am

Re: the Feb. 6 article "Trump's 2020 election claims."

In his letter the writer wrote, "Saying 'pigs fly' doesn't make it so."

To which I'd like to add, that it is similarly a lie to say that the January 6, 2020 violent insurrection and assault on the Capitol and on the US Constitution as incited by the ex-president, was "ORDINARY CITIZENS ENGAGED IN LEGITIMATE POLITICAL DISCOURSE," as the Republican National Committee tried to claim.

Furthermore, in the light of the widely-broadcast photographic documentation, this absurd claim is an insult to the intelligence of every seeing American voter. It was made by a weak-kneed political party, which lacks the guts to tell the truth, as they surely would if they cared at all about the future of democracy in our country.

Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.

Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!

Read more here:

Letter: Fake News and Lies | Letters to the Editor - Arizona Daily Star

Posted in Fake News | Comments Off on Letter: Fake News and Lies | Letters to the Editor – Arizona Daily Star

"Objectif Dsinfox" : the truth according to the media – Frenchdailynews.com

Posted: at 5:43 am

Some twenty French newspapers have joined forces with Agence France Presse and Google France to define what is true and what is false during elections. A new version of Pravda (Truth, in Russian) ?

On December 6, Agence France Presse (AFP) and Google France announced the creation of a program to fight against disinformation called Objectif Dsinfox. At the beginning of February 2022, about twenty major media* joined this project aiming at fighting against fake news during the election period.Thus, all the editorial offices involved will pool their fact-checks, in other words, their means of verifying the news. The media involved in this coalition will have at their disposal digital tools useful for cross-checking online information (Label Fact Check, Google Image Search, Trends, PinPoint, Invid-WeVerify, Politoscope developed by the CNRS, and the tweet counter and other ad-hoc tools proposed by Visibrain). In addition, AFP will deliver its #elections2022 fact-check feed to partner media free of charge.The intention is commendable.

Information has always been a formidable weapon, especially in critical times. Information is disinformation, manipulation, intoxication, propaganda, indoctrination In this respect, the role of the mass media is crucial. The media must say what is true and denounce false information aiming at destabilizing a man or a woman, a camp, a party, a country.Fake news, as we say today, has always existed, especially during wars. But they have taken a global dimension with the development of digital media and social networks.This was particularly evident during the U.S. elections, when both sides accused the other of using fake news. The outgoing president Donald Trump would have pronounced 30,573 lies according to the Washington Post. That is, on average, more than twenty per day! American intelligence services have also accused Moscow of hacking, intrusions and intoxication during the 2016 American elections.What happens in the United States, happens everywhere. Elections are a sensitive moment in a countrys democracy. Hence the interest in controlling journalistic information.

But how to distinguish the true from the false knowing that the world is neither all white nor all black and that the grey zone is largely in the majority? The naked truth does not exist, as we know. As for the lie, it often has the trappings of sincerity, even authenticity. Especially in politics, where what is true one day may not be true the next.Lets remember that both AFP and Google are already associated within the Trusted News Initiative (NTI) whose objective, with its partners, is to tackle dangerous misinformation on vaccines.Reuters is one of TNIs partners. Reuters has taken the lead in the crusade against anti-vaccine misinformation and to restore its truth about vaccines. NTI is responsible for censoring, on all platforms, all articles that would question this truth.However, the international news agency Reuters was chaired, from 2012 to 2020, by a certain James C. Smith who is also, since June 26, 2014 a member of the board of directors of Pfizer Inc. And one of the first investors. Note that Mr. Smith is also a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum and many international advisory boards.Lets never forget that the biggest newspaper of the Soviet era was called Pravda, which means Truth.

*20 Minutes, AFP, Arte, BFMTV, Euronews, Fact & Furious, FactoScope, France24, Konbini, LCI, M6, Mediacits, Phosphore, Rue89 Bordeaux, Rue89 Strasbourg, RFI, Radio France Maghreb 2, RMC, RTL, TF1 and TV5 Monde.** TNIs partners? These are the major news agencies that supply all the worlds newsrooms: Agence France Presse (AFP), Associated Presser (AP), Reuters, but also the BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Facebook, Financial Times, First Draft, Google/YouTube, The Hindu, Microsoft, Reuters, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Twitter and The Washington Post

What media literacy and digital citizenship ?

Follow this link:

"Objectif Dsinfox" : the truth according to the media - Frenchdailynews.com

Posted in Fake News | Comments Off on "Objectif Dsinfox" : the truth according to the media – Frenchdailynews.com

Fake news of the week: Do the Greens want Sharia law? – EXBERLINER.com

Posted: at 5:43 am

Omid Nouripour is one of the new co-leaders of the Greens. Photo: Future/Image

German Greens have been a regular target for online fake news, so the appointment of two new party leaders was bound to attract some attention from purveyors of online misinformation.

At the end of January, Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour succeeded Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck as party leaders, due to an internal Green party rule which means that holders of political office are not eligible for that position. However, on the same day the announcement was made, fake news began to spread on Twitter and YouTube about one of the co-leaders, Omid Nouripour.

The claim itself was grimly predictable, considering Nouripours ethnic background apparently the leader (who in fact belongs to the more moderate/conservative wing of the party) wants to introduce Sharia Law in Germany.

One Twitter user, Ali Utlu, wrote:

The new Green leader Nouripour would like to introduce parts of the Sharia that are compatible with the Basic Law.

The colour of this party is the same as that of Islam. Green.

Will this eventually mean killing homosexuals and cutting off limbs? Resist the beginnings!

As evidence for this claim, a video clip was disseminated in which Nouripour reacted to a speech made by a member of the AfD. He never makes the claim that Sharia Law should be introduced. Rather, in response to a fear-mongering claim about Sharia Law, Nouripour simply points out that Muslims should be able to practice their religion wherever it does not contradict German law.

As Correctiv have pointed out in a previous fact check, Sharia Law is not in fact a single unitary system, but an accumulated system of interpretation including different norms and practices, like when to pray and how often, how to fast during Ramadan, rules on alms tax, pilgrimage and differing ideas on how to dress such as whether to wear the headscarf.

Read more here:

Fake news of the week: Do the Greens want Sharia law? - EXBERLINER.com

Posted in Fake News | Comments Off on Fake news of the week: Do the Greens want Sharia law? – EXBERLINER.com

#IssuesAtStake: Rise of the fake news jockeys – North Coast Courier

Posted: at 5:43 am

Whatever your opinion of Donald Trump, theres no arguing he was a slogan master.

He was lightning fast on the draw to deflect tough questions, instantly creating mantras to shift the focus.

There were many, but his fake news catchphrase was a favoured arrow in his armoury to glibly dismiss probing media exposs and create his own narrative.

It caught up with him eventually, though. You can deflect the truth for only so long.

Yet, the unintended consequence of The Trumpets chant is that it became an international two-word anthem for conspiracy theorists lurking on social media platforms.

Whenever people want to dismiss credible news bulletins because these contradict their own untested opinions, or might reflect poorly on their actions, they simply whip out their fake news cards without offering verifiable facts of their own or entering into intelligent discourse.

The Donalds jargon jive held consequences for the formal mainstream media, increasingly under attack by conspiracy theorists pushing their own agendas.

Unlike social media on which any blunt pencil can post defamatory insults, irrational diatribes and their own fake news without accountability, the Fourth Estate doesnt have that liberty

Registered newspapers, such as The North Coast Courier, radio and TV channels cannot afford to publish or broadcast deliberate fake news.

They ascribe to and are bound by a very strict code of conduct developed and monitored by the South African Press Council. It is elaborate and you can find it on the councils website.

In essence, it protects the public against unethical journalistic practices.

Aggrieved parties can haul any media transgressors to the Press Ombudsman ([emailprotected]) in double quick time and they are quick to investigate and rule on the outcome.

So no, ethical mainstream media will not deliberately publish or broadcast false information, the consequences are simply too embarrassing.

The facts of every sensitive or controversial story have to be thoroughly checked and verified before going to print or hitting the airwaves. Failure to do so has dire repercussions.

This is not the case with the open house nature of social media.

The public should learn to understand the difference before they lap up all the fake news nonsense.

Admittedly, despite all the best efforts for zero mistakes in the mainstream media, errors do on occasion fall through the cracks, but this must be seen in context.

Any news outlet is reliant on official sources for information, who often pass on wrong facts for dissemination.

The increasing unprofessionalism in the communications sector contributes significantly to this dilemma.

One of the key codes of ethics is that the media must unwaveringly remain neutral.

They are never out to get anyone or pick sides. Reporting must always be accurate and fair, reflecting both sides of a story.

Unfortunately many news articles will offend and upset some parties at the wrong end of the stick, but the people have the right to know what is happening in their world good or bad.

That is the nature of the media beast.

For breaking news follow The North Coast Courier onFacebook,Twitter,InstagramandYouTube.

Join ourTelegram Broadcast Serviceat:https://t.me/joinchat/yJULuN8NaCs5OGM0

Join ourWhatsApp Broadcast Service:Simply add 082 792 9405 (North Coast Courier) as a contact to your phone, and WhatsApp your name and surname to the same number to be added.

Original post:

#IssuesAtStake: Rise of the fake news jockeys - North Coast Courier

Posted in Fake News | Comments Off on #IssuesAtStake: Rise of the fake news jockeys – North Coast Courier

Donald Trump to Joe Rogan: "Stop Apologizing to the Fake News" – The Source Magazine

Posted: at 5:43 am

Its been a wild week for Joe Rogan. After a COVID-19 controversy, Rogan has been under fire for his rampant use of the n-word. In recent days, Rogan has apologized for freely dropping the word on his podcast, while also stating that he did not mean to offend anyone.

Hearing the news and the apologies, former President Donald Trump issued a statement calling for Rogan to end his round of apologies.

Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, but hes got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics, Trump said in a statement to The Hill.

How many ways can you say youre sorry? Joe, just go about what you do so well and dont let them make you look weak and frightened, Trump added. Thats not you and it never will be!

Over 70 episodes of the podcast were removed from Spotify ahead of Rogans apology. Theres nothing I can do to take that back. I wish I could. Obviously, thats not possible, Rogan said. I certainly wasnt trying to be racist, and I certainly would never want to offend someone for entertainment with something as stupid as racism.

Trump joins a crew of Rogan supporters, which includes Hip-Hop figure J. Prince. J. Prince shared Rogans apology video on Instagram, and wrote under, Joe Rogan is not a racist. I know this brother. It takes a sincere individual to admit when they are wrong and have fucked up about a situation. As you can hear hes done that and I forgive him because I never want to become one of those people that are filled with un-forgiveness and hate, that we complain about all the time.

See original here:

Donald Trump to Joe Rogan: "Stop Apologizing to the Fake News" - The Source Magazine

Posted in Fake News | Comments Off on Donald Trump to Joe Rogan: "Stop Apologizing to the Fake News" – The Source Magazine

Attacks on Journalists Are Just One Looming Threat to Press Freedom in the US – Truthout

Posted: at 5:43 am

Every year, Project Censored publishes State of the Free Press, an in-depth look at the years best independent journalism, centering voices and topics marginalized by the establishment press. Each volume features the projects list of the years most important but underreported news stories. In addition, the book provides critical analysis of the junk food news served by the establishment media and the prevalence of news abuse. It also revisits previous years top 25 stories and shares the inspiring examples of media democracy in action. The top 25 list for State of the Free Press 2022 includes topics such as how climate debtor nations have colonized the atmosphere, the way Pfizer bullies South American governments over the COVID-19 vaccine and the scant coverage of the historic wave of wildcat strikes for workers rights.

State of the Free Press is edited by Andy Lee Roth and Mickey Huff. Roth is the coordinator of Project Censoreds Campus Affiliates Program, which brings hundreds of professors and students at colleges and universities across the U.S. together in a collective effort to identify each years most underreported news stories. Huff is the projects director and president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation. We asked Roth and Huff to share their thoughts on what important news goes unmentioned and why.

Peter Handel: How does Project Censored decide on its top 25 most censored stories each year?

Andy Lee Roth: The aim of the projects annual top 25 story list is to alert the public to extraordinarily important news stories that have been marginalized, distorted or ignored by the corporate news media, and to celebrate the good work of the independent journalists who have helped inform the public about those stories nonetheless.

The production of the projects annual top 25 story list is a year-long process that involves several hundred people and at least five distinct rounds of review and evaluation. Candidate stories are nominated by college students participating in the projects Campus Affiliates Program and interested community members. Once identified, stories are vetted by those students and their faculty mentors for newsworthiness, credibility, transparency of sourcing and corporate news coverage. If a story fails on any one of these criteria, it is deemed inappropriate and excluded from further consideration.

Once Project Censored receives the candidate story, we undertake a second round of evaluation, using the same criteria and updating the review to include any subsequent corporate news coverage. Stories that pass this stage of review are posted on the projects website as Validated Independent News stories (or VINs).

In spring, we present all eligible VINs in the current annual cycle to the faculty and students at our affiliate campuses and to our panel of expert judges, who vote to winnow the candidate stories down from several hundred to a short list.

The stories that make the short list are subject to another round of intensive review, and those that pass muster are sent to our panel of judges, who vote to rank them in numerical order. The resulting top 25 story list is featured in Project Censoreds annual book, on our website and by independent news weeklies across the country.

Give us a few examples of the independent news stories featured on the 2020-2021 story list.

Andy Lee Roth: One of this years top stories is the historic wave of wildcat strikes: Payday Report, an independent news outlet focused on labor issues, has documented more than 1,750 wildcat strikes since March 2020. Corporate media have by and large failed to connect the dots on the scope of these protests. In fact, until October 2021, when the corporate media began to cover Striketober, corporate news framed worker protests during the pandemic as sporadic, isolated events. Overall, corporate news media do a poor job of covering labor issues.

This years number two story, Journalists Investigating Financial Crimes Threatened by Global Elites, focused on a report by the U.K.-based Foreign Policy Centre about the threats faced by journalists investigating financial misconduct by wealthy individuals and international corporations. Journalists from 41 nations reported being subject to defamation lawsuits, social media smear campaigns, online trolling and even physical violence in the course of investigating stories on financial crimes. Although the Foreign Policy Centres report received some attention from corporate news media outside the United States, our research found that, as of July 2021, no major commercial newspaper or broadcast outlet in the United States had so much as mentioned the report. This is especially troubling because threats to journalists undermine freedom of the press and jeopardize the health of democratic societies.

Still other stories on the list have received limited corporate news coverage, but that coverage is not at all proportional to the significance of the topic. For example, story number 19, about Europes hunger for biomass fuel made from American forests, was the subject of one exemplary New York Times article, but no other corporate news outlet so much as ran an op-ed on the issue. The harvesting of timber for biomass fuels has led to toxic air pollution and catastrophic flooding along the southern coast of the United States, including North and South Carolina, southern Georgia, Alabama and northern Florida, but most Americans know nothing about this because the establishment press have failed to cover the issue.

In State of the Free Press 2022, you talk about disturbing attacks on the media at home and abroad. What were the major challenges to a free press in 2020-2021?

Mickey Huff: The COVID-19 pandemic is the most obvious threat to journalistic integrity, but not the only one. The pandemic has done severe damage to every sector of American society, and journalism has not been spared. In December 2021, the Poynter Institute reported that more than 100 local news outlets have closed since the beginning of the pandemic a terrible loss that accelerates the spread of news deserts, communities and regions where there is no local news coverage at all. Project Censored has documented how corporate outlets with conservative agendas swoop into these communities to exploit the need for local news.

But the threats to journalism arent limited to the pandemic. The United States is an increasingly dangerous place for journalists, who are subject to assaults, arrests and other threats. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker described 2021 as another record year for press freedom violations in the country, and documented 142 assaults on journalists, 59 arrests or detainments, 23 subpoenas of journalists or news organizations, and 36 instances of journalists having equipment damaged or destroyed. For these and related reasons, the United States ranked just 44th of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borderss 2021 World Press Freedom Index, which identified the disappearance of local news and ongoing and widespread distrust of mainstream media among the many chronic, underlying conditions impacting press freedoms in the United States.

A third threat to journalistic integrity comes from Big Tech. The impacts of the internet and the increasing influence of social media cannot be overstated. Google may not be a country, but it is a superpower, Timothy Garton Ash noted in his book, Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World. The new media giants including Alphabet (which owns Google and YouTube), Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Twitter, Apple and Microsoft function as arbiters of public issues and legitimate discourse, despite their leaders assertions that they are tech platforms, not publishers or media companies.

As Andy Lee Roth has written, these tech giants are the new gatekeepers and their proprietary algorithms determine which news stories circulate widely, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability in determinations of newsworthiness. Accountability and transparency are guiding principles for ethical journalism. But news gatekeeping conducted by proprietary algorithms crosses wires with these ethical guidelines, producing grave threats to the integrity of journalism not to mention the likelihood of a well-informed public.

Did threats to freedom of the press worsen during the Trump administration, or have they remained basically the same since 1976 when Project Censored began?

Andy Lee Roth: Trumps presidency exposed (and exploited) chronic malignancies in American society that predated his rise to power. Trump was extraordinary in his zeal to condemn the press as the enemy of the people whenever it reported news that failed to flatter him. He seemed opposed to any form of journalism that involved factual reality, with the exception, perhaps, of alternative facts, as endorsed by his counselor Kellyanne Conway. Its difficult to accept that there is no connection between Trumps provocative rhetoric and subsequent violence and threats directed at journalists, from Rep. Greg Gianfortes 2017 assault of a Guardian reporter, to the message Murder the Media scratched onto a door to the U.S. Capitol during the failed insurrection on January 6, 2021.

But it is misleading and dangerous to assume that U.S. journalism was free of faults until Donald Trump weaponized the term fake news to serve his own interests. That position cedes more influence to Trump than he deserves, while it ignores the importance of deep, structural flaws in corporate news media. As Project Censoreds Steve Macek and I argued in a November 2020 article for Truthout, explanations of news bias that trace it back to the self-interest and partisan bias of editors and journalists or even aggregates of those individual interests and biases fail to explain the political power of news or to identify the foundations on which far more fundamental forms of news slant are built. To understand the establishment medias deepest biases requires a structural analysis of journalism, including the economic imperatives, institutional constraints, professional values and social relationships that shape the production of every news story. These are the basic building blocks of the critical media literacy that Project Censored champions.

A clear-eyed analysis of threats to freedom of the press must look back before Trumps presidency not to mention beyond it. The Biden administration does not refer to the press as enemy of the people, but it continues in its efforts to extradite Julian Assange. And, although the First Amendment provides protection against prior restraint the effort to prevent publication or publicization of information or ideas by the government, in November 2021, a New York State court ordered The New York Times not to publish information about the group Project Veritas, a far right group notorious for its production of deceptively edited videos. As the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker noted, this was the first prior restraint for the Times since the Pentagon Papers case of 1971.

In your book you include a chapter on sensationalized and empty Junk Food News that discusses something you call humilitainment. What is Junk Food News, and how does it distract us from more substantive reporting?

Mickey Huff: Project Censored began to track Junk Food News after news editors contacted Carl Jensen, the projects founder, to counter the projects claim that certain news topics were censored. Citing a finite amount of time and space for news reporting, which prevented them from covering every important story, those editors got Jensen wondering: What do they report? The problem, Jensen found, was not necessarily a lack of time and space for substantive news, but the quality of the news selected to fill that limited time and space. Most of it was, in Jensens words, sensationalized, personalized, and homogenized inconsequential trivia, for which he coined the now-common term Junk Food News.

Today, faculty and students working with Project Censored continue to track Junk Food News. This years chapter investigates the social networking service TikTok as a popular purveyor of junk food news. In particular, the analysis focuses on humilitainment, a term developed in 2005 by media scholars Brad Waite and Sara Booker to describe entertainment that capitalizes on someone elses humiliation. TikTok trades in humilitainment, as exemplified by sensational news coverage of Gorilla Glue Girl. The chapters authors show how a fascination with humilitainment obscured more substantive reporting on topics including humanitarian crises in Yemen and Ethiopia, the wave of disproportionately female unemployment propelled by COVID-19, and legislation to restrict voting rights.

More here:

Attacks on Journalists Are Just One Looming Threat to Press Freedom in the US - Truthout

Posted in Fake News | Comments Off on Attacks on Journalists Are Just One Looming Threat to Press Freedom in the US – Truthout