They say x, ask for where they heard about x. They say from y news organization, ask the source for y. If they say z, if z is actually an actual document or otherwise, ask them where in z does y claim x is true.
If z is just another news organization, keep going until they provide (or don't provide) an actual document. If they can't procure an actual document, send it yourself. If z is just another video cIip, ask them for the whole video. Provide them the entire video if they can't.
Do not try to antagonize. Just simply ask the questions as if you were trying to understand their point of view, to learn something we might not have heard.
This is sad:
They just don’t get that we generally take in a lot of media, and while any one source should be taken w a grain of salt, we have general trust in these institutions because they ALWAYS, without fail, provide a paper trail.
And have been for many, many years, from stuff no one even cares about to the biggest stories, they’re meticulous in CYA. And when they make a mistake, they actually admit it!
Contrast that with their “We Are the News Now” BS…it’s always sourced to some dude on the internet.
The whole point is, I don’t need to know the source of the source of the source offhand. The media I consume is constantly called into question by its competitors, readers, subjects, and occasionally lawyers, and they’ve always brought the receipts- so rather than make myself insane and just assume they’re lying and making unfalsifiable claims, I trust their expertise- because it’s well-earned.
I wish I lived on the same planet the person who wrote that is on. Wouldn't it be great if journalism really was like that?
On the other hand, replying to my own comment:
Some of them do have good points about the media.
Listen to what they say and take it into consideration.