Some people who live in or visit America have no idea that ICE has been doing any of the things it’s doing. Others believe the country is filled with anti-ICE protesters from the mountains to the prairies.
You can spend time in a place and not know what’s going on. You can even become less aware of the reality while you’re there, because you can get radicalized by people who tell you lies.
It’s a paradox of journalism: physical proximity can create a blind spot. Reporters need to understand this. Many don’t. In the latest episode, I explain how dangerous this is, and why it’s a big factor in how hate movements spread all over the world.
Important things come from on-site reporting. I’ve called for news agencies to do much more of it, especially in Africa.
But on-site reporting is useless if you aren’t first, above all else, deeply committed to fighting for truth. That means fact-checking everything you’re told, wherever you are.
This is an edited, hyperlinked transcript from the latest episode. Ahead: how ‘been there’ bias helps non-democratic governments; the on-air question that encourages performative omniscience; a CNN personality who pushes propaganda; ‘parachute journalism’; and more.
Propagandists long ago discovered this opportunity. To spread lies, you can
