Go to your wifi router and you can block any news source that transmits over the internet. I've made those changes for many senior acquaintances, and of course my own home network.

Web Site Blocked by NETGEAR Firewall

And if it's kids you want to block, use the wifi router "Parental Controls" to lock them out at designated times and/or specific websites, like youtube, etc.

I saw Colbert and Oliver the other night at a fundraiser, and they took umbrage with the term "fake news", which has been there comedic shtick.

Their point --- what people are calling fake news, is just plain old lying.

Makes me think of the Al Franken book, iirc, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them".

I hope you will post a review of Colbert and Oliver, MtnRd. Did they have any wise words??

NY Times article re Colbert and Oliver

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/arts/stephen-colbert-john-oliver-trump-live-conversation.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=18&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Hi Cattyles,

Actually, they did nothing to assuage me. Oliver doesn't even seem to agree with "give him a chance", and Colbert's best line was "give him a chance but don't give him an inch". Oliver just insists we need to stay on guard and not normalize his behavior.

Their best recommendation was reach out and get involved in your community (the whole community, even "them" ) and support causes you care about. I actually made mental notes to report back, but then I saw this in the NYT. I think they captured it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/arts/stephen-colbert-john-oliver-trump-live-conversation.html?_r=0

Thank you for the link.

Fake news is not a new thing. But I would hope serious people and leaders would not base policy decisions on it. Not a good recipe for success. But then I guess you can have "fake successes" too . . .

Fake news is not a new thing, but it spreads faster and to a wider audience now through social media. People who want to believe outlandish stories start believing them after seeing them a few times. Then they vote.

Thinking hope may not be sufficient, pinkmountain...

Fact-check: Did 3 million undocumented immigrants vote in this year's election?

Someone should tell Trump about fake news.

Gotta love his quoting the national enquirer....lol

Kinda off topic since this isn't fake news, but why aren't you guys talking about HC not accepting the election results and spending millions for a recount? Didn't she say something like it was a threat to our democracy (when Trump said he wouldn't accept the results if he lost)? I know, HC (claims) she didn't initiate the recount but she did say she's on board. Jill Stein has nothing to gain by demanding a recount. Me thinks HC is behind it.

And what about the death of the tyrannical dictator/murderer, Castro. Why in the world is the Left praising the man? :o The Prime Minister of Canada praising him for his love for the Cuban people? Seriously? He's killed thousands for not agreeing with his communist ways. The average wage is $20/month. Most of the population lives in dilapidated shacks with no modern amenities while he's worth an estimated $900 million. There is nothing "romantic" about Cuba or Castro. The man is a cold blooded killer. Jessie Jackson is another praising Castro for "economic freedom"...WHAAAT? If Canada stops the "flood" of US citizens leaving the US because of Trump, maybe the rest of them can take refuge in Cuba :)

I don't know which is worse, Trump tweeting a lie or Trump actually believing that 3 million illegals voted.

If DT has a reasonable and credible reason to think that there was voting fraud then he can make his case in court and demand recounts of whatever states he wants. You look for fraud where it is most likely to happen, not just tweet whatever rant comes into your head at the moment. Go ahead and follow through with your concerns and actually make a case for voter fraud, anywhere you suspect it, gather your facts, make your case. Our democracy demands it. Meaningless grandstanding on the other hand, does undermine our institutions. Saying something is happening is not proving it is happening.

Tweeting has got to be the most ignorant form of communication ever invented. GAH!!!!!!!!

Monica, double check your news sources. HIllary is not spending millions for a recount.

Monica, what Hillary's doing is moot at this point, along with Castro's death. The current fake news is coming from our future president, and it scares the hell out of me. Especially when he tweeted this morning that people who burn flags should lose their citizenship. I don't approve of flag burning, but we are in TROUBLE.

As I said elsewhere, America has a new King John, and we need someone to create our own Magna Carta and force Trump to sign it.

BTW, I didn't vote for Obama but I'm already missing him.

Trump actually makes me even long for Dubya. And believe me, that is saying a LOT.

I am 138% sure that if Trump was calling for a recount, it would NOT be a moot point among the liberal left on this board. Current events are discussed here all the time. Some are however conveniently passed over/ignored. The whole world is discussing the death of the tyrannical dictator Castro and the US is certainly discussing Hillary's recount. Guess they didn't get the memo that the two stories a moot point.

And I'll take the Trump/Twitter thing a step further. I think it's classless and inappropriate that ANY world leader use Twitter or Facebook or go on late night tv to communicate with the general public. I happen to think the office of the Presidency (should be) above that. But, I'm old and conservative and still believe in proper etiquette and public decorum. Trump has a big mouth. I pray to God that his ego and big mouth are checked at the door (to the White House).

maddielee, I didn't say that right. Looking back at what I wrote, it does look like I was suggesting Hillary was spending her own money.

If Trump had lost the election (um the electoral college that is), and voting irregularities were found in a state with a close outcome I would expect that a recount would be in order.

Of course Trump is still tweeting about a "rigged" election with "illegals" voting because his yuuuge ego can't stand that he didn't win the popular vote.

Monica, Hillary is a moot point because she's not the president elect spreading fake news. What Hillary is doing with the recount has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Tim Kaine tweeted he's so saddened by the senseless act of gun violence at Ohio State university. Kaine began pushing a gun control agenda on twitter immediately following the knife attack.

Beware of politicians like Tim Kaine.

The only gun used was by a police officer. Tim needs to verify before politicizing.

Oh for Heaven's sake, beware of Tim Kaine?? With everything to beware and be aware of right now you find Kaine especially worrisome?

He also tweeted that he was mistaken.

Tim Kaine tweeted he was mistaken after it was found to be an attack by automobile and machete.

(Although I hate seeing flags burned I am still waiting for a tweet from Mr. Trump saying that he was mistaken for wanting to take someone's citizenship away for protesting by burning a flag.)

Fake or not, a lot of these "news" items do not interest me in the least since they will have zero impact on my life. I would actually like to watch and read news, but really tire of wading through what is either gossip or so poorly sourced and written as to not really qualify as journalism.

And I'll take the Trump/Twitter thing a step further. I think it's classless and inappropriate that ANY world leader use Twitter or Facebook or go on late night tv to communicate with the general public. I happen to think the office of the Presidency (should be) above that. But, I'm old and conservative and still believe in proper etiquette and public decorum. Trump has a big mouth. I pray to God that his ego and big mouth are checked at the door (to the White House).

I completely agree (except that I'm not conservative). Talk about a culture that has been dumbed down to the Nth degree! Do you suppose Trump will give State of the Union addresses, or will we all be required to follow his Twitter feed so that he can communicate with the nation in 140 characters or less? I find it absolutely reprehensible that his preferred means of communication is so lowbrow. IMO, it's shameful.

What about when Hillary and Obama went on Between Two Ferns? Or when Obama gave that interview to the girl who bathes with Fruit Loops.

Culture has been devolving for a long time, this is just one further step down that path...

Not saying this is good! But the dumbing down of political discourse didn't start with Trump (and sadly won't end with him)

But if you were Trump, and believed that most of the media was out to get you (not entirely untrue, either), of course you would want to go direct and cut out the middleman.

What Hillary is doing with the recount has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Oakly, I would say more than half of the replies to topics on these boards have nothing to do with the topic at hand lol. But I understand your need to deflect. The recount is NOT a moot point or un-newsworthy. Again, after Clinton says things like (not accepting the election results are) horrifying/that's not the way our democracy works/for 240 years we've had free and fair elections/we've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them/that is what MUST be expected/and she's appalled that someone that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that position, I can understand her supporters trying to downplay the her actions. And this is my last post on the subject :)

I once attempted to correct a high school friend's sharing of a bit of fake news on Facebook. It was a news story that had been distorted from it's original publication in a more legitimate source, to the point where the generalization was no longer true. One of their other FB friends went off on me, including throwing personal insults.

I would actually like to watch and read news, but really tire of wading
through what is either gossip or so poorly sourced and written as to
not really qualify as journalism.

Isn't THAT the truth! For decades we only had the 3 major networks to rely on for news. But that news was slanted with a leftest liberal agenda. Then came along MSNBC and CNN...even more left leaning news reporting. FoxNews came along with a counter to attempt to balance the news. ONE news channel that dares to report news with a different angle and you'd think it was run by Satan himself :o

"news was slanted"

"news with a different angle"

Would we read or watch news that was not tailored to adhere to our specific biases? We talk about "fake" news, but what is even real anymore?

We make our own beds to lie in.

I would absolutely appreciate and read news with no angle or slant, strictly facts. I would also read editorial from different perspectives but I would like editorial to be completely separate from news.

I agree with Les - I too would gladly read news that was just news: Just the facts, ma'am - nothing more, nothing less. I already know the myriad sources available if I want biased opinion.

There is 1 problem that has only grown w/ time & I see it all over the place nowadays; it is mistaking opinion for reporting. Perhaps because opinion pieces are everywhere in broadcast media, online as well. The majority of TV 'news' that many refer to is actually punditry.

Serious news sources still use the label 'Opinion' or 'Op-Ed' on articles, but not too many TV or online sources do the same, it seems. And it doesn't seem to make a difference to some people anyway.

I'm a scientist and I teach how to find and verify objectivity and evaluate the quality of information. There are many ways to slant news, but the number one way I see things going on now is just not reporting stories. It costs money to keep news desks staffed with investigative reporters. Much easier to stick with the easy tried and true stories that don't require any thought, research or hard hitting analysis. The same six stories get played over and over. Today on the way to work I listened to a substantive discussion on trade policies and how they affect jobs and the economy on the Diane Rehm show. If I had not had to go into work late, I would have never heard boo about these major issues. Oh, and the four panelists had widely varying views and information on the subject, and they were able to discuss and disagree based on experience, facts, in depth knowledge, perspectives of different parts of the country and different sectors of the economy, etc. I would never see such a thing on any other network, Fox included. The shallowness of the news is mind numbing, but I know why that is, because to sell you have to be short, catchy, simplistic like an advertisement, based on a few motivating human emotions (conflict being one of them).

Great point pinkmountain, good journalism is expensive. They are challenged by today's online news and dwindling subscriptions. This is why so many are preaching to the choir. It would be nice to have news that is truly impartial. But not a lot of people are watching C-SPAN, are they? Current events often need to be communicated and journalists are the messengers. It is not always clear what an impartial take on the situation might be. There are many ways to approach the same event or topic. Maybe one way is to be reading from both extremes- and make up your own mind from these two poles.

Diane Rehm is on NPR. I consider NPR among the best news sources out there.

CNN followed a panel of Trump voters through the election and did a follow-up after Trump won. There's a short clip of that interview here. This is what you look like when you repeat fake news. Scroll to see video.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-voter-fraud-facebook-cnn-2016-12

They also believe Obama told illegals to vote because they saw it on Facebook. In seconds, the reporter on her little phone was able to find the source of the rumor, which these voters could have done for themselves. It came from Fox Business Network, reporting news from a "different angle", who edited a tape of Obama encouraging Latinos to get out and vote to make it sound like he was encouraging illegals to vote.

I don't know what we can do about this type of ignorance. I really fear for our democracy if people don't get informed from other sources besides 24 hour cable TV, FB, and RW blogs and websites. It's killing us.

"Welcome to Costco. I love you."

Seriously, if anyone here has not seen the 2006 movie "Idiocracy", you owe it to yourself to watch. It's a fairly juvenile comedy that just so happened to become an accurate indictment of our current societal state. It's horrifying to realize we are living out a Luke Wilson flick.