The National Review Opines Against Fake News — But Throws Hands Up

The National Review, the stalwart conservative periodical founded by William Buckley, has written a piece warning about the dangers of fake news.

I am relieved, I must say, to hear that folks on the right are just as alarmed. While the first screaming proselytizers came from the left, it is a hopeful sign that maybe we Americans can come together to make truth a virtue again.

Here’s a few quotes from the article by Jim Geraghty, National Review’s senior political correspondent:

Yes, the new rash of fabricated stories is awful, toxic to public discussion, and worthy of rebuke, just as the stories pushed by Rather and Williams and Rolling Stone were. But those now proclaiming a “fake-news crisis” are long on furious denunciation and short on anything resembling a plan or a proposal to deal with it.

No amount of effort to debunk fake stories is going to dissuade people with this mentality. Nor is an official disavowal. Reliable news organizations and political figures can denounce “fake news” until the cows come home, but it isn’t likely to change the thinking of those who consume it.

“Fake news” is terrible. But not everything in life that is terrible can or should be snuffed out. Sometimes, the proposed remedy is worse than the disease.

Some Optimism Please!