An Epoch Quandary
I just received my free “sample edition” of The Epoch Times, the newspaper that is “grounded in traditional journalism,” and has a “mission to revive traditional journalism and allow a greater number of people to receive factual reporting.”
The lead story informs me that, “More than 180 college and university campuses across the United States are requiring more than 2.4 million students to produce proof of vaccination against the CCP (Chinese Communist party) virus to attend in-person classes this fall, regardless of whether the students have acquired immunity to the virus.” (The bold emphasis is mine.)
The story then advises there is “evidence that prior infection results in broad and lasting protections from the virus…” hence, anybody who has had Covid-19 doesn’t need vaccination, regardless of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends.
It looks like a newspaper. It smells like a newspaper. It offers me a subscription like a newspaper. But it leaves me with the feeling it is an anti-newspaper and wondering if anybody on the staff has been to journalism school.
Still, it was kind of them to send me the free sample, thereby confirming what I have long thought to be true: Teaching how to discern fact from opinion (or fiction) and how to recognize reliable sources are absolutely the most important lessons schools can offer their students.
I worked in public schools. For years. And the more techno-illogical (as my late husband would have said) our society became, the harder it was for my students to decipher reality from fantasy. Things had to be true if they’d been seen on the internet. I, their ancient speech therapist who didn’t even own a smart phone, was clearly out of touch. I didn’t know enough to be afraid of killer clowns—who might be hiding in the heater closet in my classroom.
My husband and I lived in Louisiana for years. We frequented the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, where we once encountered a man animatedly saying to his son “Look at the Swan!” even though the placard in front of the enclosure plainly said, “Pelican.” Maybe he was illiterate. Or maybe he was creating his own reality. I hope the child learned to read.
I used to think if you could read, you could handle most anything. But some folks think reading is an archaic skill. And while I love to read—I do it for pure pleasure—I agree that is has become less necessary. One can listen to the news. Watch things demonstrated on You Tube. Shoot, you can even order the burger of your choice by pointing to a picture.
I have worked with enough dyslexic students who hated reading to know that it is not the cure-all. And this free newspaper in my mailbox proves it! If you can read, but you cannot reason what is real and what is ridiculous, you are still in a muddle. Maybe a worse muddle—because you can’t recognize you’re in one! You feel secure in your ability to read a periodical.
With the proliferation of “news sources,” it gets harder and harder for people to determine which ones are reputable. Yet this skill is the foundation upon which our democracy stands. Without it we are up the proverbial creek with naught but a slotted spoon for paddling.
But not to worry—Artificial Intelligence will know what to do.