General Discussion

I teach at a private university in Maryland, and a student came to my office hours to discuss a writing assignment in our journalism class having to do with ethics and how journalists need to verify every piece of information we use because of the deluge of BS being spewed by politicians — the GOP, in particular. I used the recent social media bullshit regarding Venezuelans in Aurora, Colorado; Musk's lie that VP Harris was going to eliminate X if she's elected; and the garbage about Haitians eating pets in Ohio as examples of how quickly lies can spread, and how busy journalists have to be to stay ahead of the BS.

Here's a reasonable representation of the conversation. FWIW, the young man is a 22-year-old African-American from Prince George's County, Maryland.

Student: "What do you think of the election? I'm for Trump. What do you think of him?"

Me: "It's not what I think; it's what I know. I know he's a criminal, convicted of 34 crimes and accused of another 56. I know that he's a failed businessman. I know that he's a serial liar. I know that he tried to stay in power after losing an election. And I know that he tried to prevent the U.S. Congress from doing its job by siccing a mob on it."

Student: "Oh, OK. About that writing assignment ..."

We're not supposed to be outwardly political or to try to influence our students in any way, but I'm hoping that recitation of facts has some positive impact.