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Truthiness

Romnesia Is the New Truthiness: Obama Learns a Lesson From Colbert

Sophia A. McClennen | Posted 12.22.2012 | Politics
Sophia A. McClennen

Obama has finally learned from Colbert that neologisms are not just snappy ways of packaging important ideas; they are also ways to get your supporters to play an active role in spreading them.

It's Arithmetic: The Romney Campaign Adds Up to Lies and Insults

Sophia A. McClennen | Posted 11.21.2012 | Politics
Sophia A. McClennen

To trope on Bill Clinton, "It's Arithmetic." Colbert and Stewart have shown us that the Romney campaign adds up to lies and insults. Now it's our turn to do the math and decide what this campaign really adds up to.

American Dream Family Lore of DNC Keynote Speaker and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro Rings True

Megan Smolenyak | Posted 11.02.2012 | Politics
Megan Smolenyak

Mayor Castro's family lore rings true. His grandmother, with a family tree extending back to Coahuila and Zacatecas, came here as a young girl and was taken in by relatives.

Truthiness Is Not a Joke: Lying and Loving It at the RNC

Sophia A. McClennen | Posted 11.02.2012 | Politics
Sophia A. McClennen

CBS News reported that most of the major claims made by Ryan about Obama's record were misleading and untrue. Ryan then kept up his pattern of truthiness after the RNC when he lied about his best time in a marathon, shaving off more than an hour from his finish time. Seriously?

Art In The Age Of 'Truthiness' Debuts

The Huffington Post | Kath | Posted 07.31.2012 | Arts

"Truthiness," the quality of preferring concepts one wishes to be true over those known to be true, was introduced by the comedian Stephen Colbert in ...

Stephen Colbert, Scientific Pioneer

Chris Mooney | Posted 06.05.2012 | Science
Chris Mooney

Truthiness is the quality of knowing something in your gut or your heart, as opposed to in your head. Colbert didn't just diagnose a deep malady in American political discourse. He also used phrases that anticipated research results on the differences between liberals and conservatives.

"Obama? I Wouldn't Vote for That Socialite"

Bernard Starr | Posted 05.26.2012 | Politics
Bernard Starr

If you don't know the difference between a socialite and socialist, you are a prime candidate for the U.S. Republican debate team.

Doing Something About Truthiness in Politics and News

Craig Newmark | Posted 05.20.2012 | Media
Craig Newmark

There are plenty of good fact-checking efforts in progress. However, we need to address what Jon Stewart calls the "CNN leaves it there" problem, where a reporter sees that a public figure is lying, but doesn't fact-check him, saying that they have to "leave it there."

Merry Christmas From Colbert: Satire's Special Gift

Sophia A. McClennen | Posted 02.22.2012 | TV
Sophia A. McClennen

What is Colbert's greatest gift this holiday season? It's his satire -- and especially his way of using words -- puns, neologisms, wordplay, etc. to encourage his audience to think critically.

The Wavelength: Original Reporting--What's it Worth? Plus: Tracking the AT&T/T-Mobile Merger

The Media Consortium | Posted 06.04.2011 | Media
The Media Consortium

By Eric Arnold, Media Consortium blogger Last week, the New York Times debuted a long-awaited paywall, and stats blogger Nate Silver used the launch a...

Digging Hurts: The Trauma of Writing Fiction Truthfully

Randy Susan Meyers | Posted 05.25.2011 | Books
Randy Susan Meyers

While writing my novel, I accessed dark emotional truths. But I think I learned something: If one's past is cooked correctly and honestly, it's bound to leave the writer with a bit of indigestion.

Shadow Elite: Truthiness, Porn and the Real Problem With Reality TV

Janine R. Wedel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Janine R. Wedel

What do the makers of reality TV and the makers of pornography have in common with some of America's top power brokers? It may be less of a stretch than it sounds.

The Truth in Truthiness: Christine O'Donnell Gets Honest

Mark Olmsted | Posted 05.25.2011 | Comedy
Mark Olmsted

As long as we're going to be spending so much time in the Tea Party fantasy world, I thought it only fair that I turn the tables. What would it sound like if Christine O'Donnell made a completely honest speech?

Shadow Elite: Truthiness in the Twitter Era

Janine R. Wedel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Janine R. Wedel

The insidious and deceptive self-branding that used to be confined to the corporate world is now also used by political message-makers, aiming to create a look and feel that consumers identify with intuitively.

Internet Petitions Stephen Colbert To Hold 'Restoring Truthiness' Rally At Lincoln Memorial

Huffington Post | Katla McGlynn | Posted 05.25.2011 | Comedy

A grassroots campaign has begun to get Stephen Colbert to hold a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to counter Glenn Beck's recent "Restoring ...

Have You Had Your "Information Debris " Today?

Caryl Rivers | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Caryl Rivers

The beliefs held by "Truthers" and "Birthers" were culled not from mailings from extremist groups or the creepy websites of the lunatic fringe. They were discussed by the mainstream media.

Shadow Elite: March to War -- Rove, Perle, & Truthiness

Janine R. Wedel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Janine R. Wedel

One wishes that Iraq was now simply a matter of historian research. But the reality is that we're still there and the country is still dangerously unstable. No amount of truthiness can make that hard fact go away.

Washington Post Fostering Confusion About Clean Energy Opportunities

A. Siegel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Green
A. Siegel

By arguing that a transition to a clean energy economy will lead to some job losses, Sunil Sharan reminds us of doomsayers who fight change, focusing on costs while ignoring the greater benefits.

Business Week Deceiving Readers

A. Siegel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Green
A. Siegel

Poor misunderstood (former) GM executive Bob Lutz. How dare Lutz be castigated for stating that "Global warming is a crock of s*%t!" After all, he f...

Shadow Elite: Do You Know Whose Agenda You're Being Sold?

Janine R. Wedel | Posted 01.03.2012 | Books
Janine R. Wedel

In the community of fewer than 2,000 in which I grew up, the proverbial six degrees of separation melt away. You can't help but play multiple roles in...

Guardian Asserts Conspiracy to Hide the Peak

A. Siegel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Green
A. Siegel

A recent Guardian article raises the question: has there been a conspiracy to inflate IEA numbers and thus distort the global conversation about our energy challenges?

Baucus' Bill Not Bipartisan, But Panmedia

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Chris Weigant

Baucus' was supposed to be the "bipartisan" bill, but the only way it can truly be referred to as such is in the growing bipartisan distaste for the bill.

Scientific Inquiry Concludes: Inhofe List "Not credible"

A. Siegel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Green
A. Siegel

Senator James Inhofe misused the power of his chairmanship to expend taxpayer resources on distorting, misleading, and outright deceiving when it comes to scientific issues, most notably in relation to questions of Global Warming.

Washington Post Promotes Debunked Deception About Hummers vs. Priuses

A. Siegel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Green
A. Siegel

Does anyone suspect that The Washington Post editorial board has the sensibility to be embarrassed by publishing this absurd letter citing such a deceptive and deceitful marketing "study"?

"We Call it Life ..." Idiocy and Deception Resurrected

A. Siegel | Posted 05.25.2011 | Green
A. Siegel

When it comes to discussion of climate change, there are too many prepared to come to the table intent on deceiving and confusing rather than engaging honestly.