Too gullible

Why are people so ready to believe misinformation? Why aren’t people more critical of information that is obviously dubious or far-fetched or not confirmed by anyone?
 
Thousands of people were willing to believe that a certain woman police officer was responsible for arresting a man who was bleeding to death rather than asking for medical attention (the man was Henry Nowak in December 2025).

In fact the woman police officer had nothing whatever to do with Henry Nowak’s death and had actually retired from the police force 18 months earlier. But that didn’t stop gullible people from falsely identifying Christi Hill and turning her life upside down.
 
She has had to flee her home and move to a safe house elsewhere to escape the vicious abuse that has rained down on her since she was falsely accused. No doubt, as often happens, the misinformation will continue despite the denials and her life will be in constant turmoil.
 
Personally I check news items very carefully if they look in any way dodgy. If they don’t make sense, if they seem highly unlikely, and if there’s no other news source corroborating the story, I give them a wide berth and I don’t bother to comment.
 
There are enough true stories to assimilate without wasting energy on the bogus.

Pic: Christi Hill

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There was anti-immigrant rioting just outside Belfast city centre last night (Tuesday). It didn't affect us as we're about two miles away from the riot area. But it must have been terrifying for any immigrants.

Easily fooled

It's shocking that schools are so poor at teaching basic principles of analysis, research and critical thinking that many young people can't tell fake news from real news and easily mistake unsubstantiated nonsense for the truth.

I don't know about British schools, but in California a senator and assemblyman have both proposed bills to fight fake news by teaching children how to detect misleading, fabricated or inaccurate media and social media reports.

Senator Bill Dodd wants to see a "media literacy" curriculum, while Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez seeks lessons on "civic online reasoning".

It's astonishing to an oldie like me, well used to sceptical sifting through media reports and subjecting them to several tests of authenticity - Is this confirmed elsewhere? Is it credible? Is this a news source renowned for making things up? Are there obvious discrepancies and omissions? - that young people aren't taught this basic skill and happily absorb fabricated rubbish without a thought.

When even long-established reputable newspapers give space to dubious unverified stories, it only encourages the spread of fake news. I'm amazed at the constant airing of wild claims about Donald Trump's private life (I know all the details but I'm not giving them even more publicity). They may be 100 per cent true, they may be 100 per cent false, who knows? But why are they reported at all, when right now, there's no evidence whatever to support them?

People are all too willing to believe stories that fit with their particular view of the world, and reluctant to consider they might be a pack of lies.

Last year I complained to the BBC that their story about Vegemite being turned into homemade alcohol was totally untrue, and eventually they admitted it. But not before the story had spread all over the media with no attempt to check it.

The sooner young people can tell the wheat from the chaff, the better.