The Big Picture –
By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Without going into all the details or naming names at this juncture, let’s just say for the sake of argument that some recent experiences demonstrate how we live in an era of massive fraud and fakery.

For some good reasons, many people have come to distrust even the most accurate information published on the web with the best of intentions. You know as well as I do why this is the case. There are people, politicians, companies and bots who depend on foolery for their wealth and power.

Selfish charlatans have been around probably since the dawn of human societies tens of thousands of years ago. So have idealists and “do-gooders,” who seek nothing but the truth and the best for their fellow human beings and society at large.

Since I first got into journalism 45 years ago, I count myself in the truth seeking camp. Of course anyone can tell you that, even the talking heads on right-wing talk radio and cable television and now social media and podcasts.

How is the average news consumer to know who to trust?

As I was thinking about this, I did a Google search, read a few articles, but rather than summarize them all, I decided to put the question to an Artificial Intelligence bot. Here’s what ChatGPT had to say on the subject when I asked:

“How to engender trust in an era of mass fraud and fakery?”

“That’s a really important and timely question,” the bot said. “In an era where fraud and fakery seem widespread, building and maintaining trust takes intentionality and transparency.”

Here are some key ways to engender trust today:

Be Transparent
Share your processes, intentions, and limitations openly. People trust what they can see and understand.

Be Consistent
Consistency in words and actions over time builds reliability. Don’t say one thing and do another.

Show Accountability
Admit mistakes promptly and take responsibility rather than hiding errors. That vulnerability often increases trust.

Provide Evidence and Proof
Back up your claims with verifiable facts, testimonials, or independent validation.

Communicate Clearly and Honestly
Avoid jargon or vague language. Speak plainly and don’t overpromise.

Build Relationships Over Time
Trust rarely forms instantly; it grows through repeated positive interactions.

Protect Privacy and Data
In a digital age, safeguarding sensitive information is critical for trust.

Demonstrate Empathy and Integrity
Show genuine concern for others’ well-being and uphold strong ethical standards.

Celebrity

But I’m not sure the mass audience really go by these standards anymore. These days, celebrity seems to matter more than anything else. People seem to trust people who are rich and famous on television, or YouTube, more than those of us who write and publish the truth on the web.

As I was thinking about this and working on it, The New York Times came out with a story about former President Barack Obama warning that the country was “dangerously close” to allowing its government officials to act in a way “consistent with autocracies.”

But as seems to be the case with many Democrats now, he only offered a “veiled rebuke” of the Trump administration, “delivered with trademark caution.”

Appearing before a civic group in Hartford, Connecticut, “during a tumultuous stretch for the country both at home and abroad,” according to the Times, Obama offered a winding explanation about the dangers facing American democracy. He pointed to an erosion of traditional values like the rule of law, an independent judiciary, the freedom of the press and the right to protest.

Obama, Back in Public Eye, Offers a Careful Warning of a Democratic Slide

Mr. Obama receives and deserves much respect. He was a rock star of a politician, who I first met on the campaign trail in Birmingham, Alabama when he was still in the U.S. Senate and running for president in the Democratic Primary in 2008. He became the nominee, won the presidency, twice, with a veritable landslide, and stepped down without so much as a scandal.

But this is not what many liberal and progressive Democrats seem to want now. They are looking for a firebrand who can speak openly and honestly and rally the country against fascism. Let’s call it what it is.

It’s not just leaning toward “autocracy.” What Trump, JD Vance, the Heritage Foundation and the likes of Elon Musk, Steve Bannon and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller are trying to do is destroy democracy and turn the American government into a Crypto-Fascist and Christo-Fascist dictatorship. Many Republicans in Congress and some members of the Supreme Court seem to be for the same thing. Plain and simple.

Playing it safe is what President Joe Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland did. If he had aggressively pursued Trump for all his crimes in a timely manner, he would have been in prison and not able to run for president in 2024. That’s what liberal and progressive Democrats are complaining about now. They are they are right.

Our own news philosophy all along has been to tell it like it is, and that includes criticizing Democrats when it seems appropriate. Some people don’t think we’ve been hard enough on the Democrats. But it has long been our position that there is no fair and balanced equivalency to this story. At least the Democrats are trying. The Republicans in charge now just seem to be out for chaos and anarchy, profit and power for themselves.

If that does not endanger trust, I am at a loss. And that loss may be everyone’s loss.

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