I am tired and I need to catch up on some reading, but I wanted to share a recent article by Jason Siegel from The Tablet entitled “The Invasion of the Fact-Checkers.”

Trust in the media is very low, and deservedly so. Our media elites no longer regard themselves as objective reporters of the facts (did they ever, or was that just a myth? think yellow journalism), but as players in the political game and influencers in the social agenda, more often of the left, but not exclusively.

In the 1990’s there arose a new beast called the “fact-checker.” Snopes was the first, but others followed. “Fact-checkers” are now considered an integral part of our fourth estate, and many place a great deal of confidence in their research and judgments on what is and is not “fake news.” Social media tech giants like Facebook and Twitter rely on them for censoring “mis-information” or “dis-information.”

Seigel’s point is that confidence in “fact-checker’s” objectivity in protecting the populace from fake news in unwarranted. In fact, Seigel claims, “the fact-checker’s role is not to investigate the truth but to uphold the credibility of official sources and their preferred narratives.” Fact-checkers have become a tool for media elites to protect or destroy (or attempt to) political allies. The most egregious recent example of this was the designation of Hunter Biden’s laptop as “fake news” because dozens of former intelligence officials told us it was Russian propaganda – an attempt by Russia to once again influence the outcome of an American election. Twitter actually froze the account of the New York Post because the Post was the paper that broke the story. After which, Biden allies repeated the farce that the laptop was Russian propaganda because the intelligence officials told us so, and the fact checkers backed them up.

Earlier this month, however, the New York Times (of all papers!) finally reported that Hunter Biden’s laptop and the information on it were authentic. Yes, Joe Biden really was the “big guy” whose influence the Ukrainians hoped to exploit. This will certainly prove to be the most earth-shaking political news story in a decade. Nah … just kidding. Our media elites are mostly ignoring it. Their work in burying the story to protect Biden’s presidential bid being done, they see no reason to get worked up about it now. Sure, people might go to prison. Sure, a sitting president is stained as an influence peddler (honestly, didn’t we already know that?). But that’s old news that nobody cares about anymore.

Anyway, Seigel’s article is suburb. It’s long but well-worth the time to read the whole thing. Some of his language is foul, so be aware.

So, if the “fact-checkers” are players in the game, who do we turn to for reliable information? I don’t know. I’m happy to entertain any ideas anyone else might have. I’m stumped, frankly. I recall Denzel Washington telling an interviewer, “If I don’t listen to the news, I’m uninformed. If I do listen to the news, I’m misinformed.” Who to trust? Jesus, of course. But He hasn’t published in a while.

I pray for my country.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.