I have pretty much turned into a skeptic on anything presented as news or journalism. This is a relatively new thing for me overall. People have to become students of language/vocabulary use. There are so many things that you can pick up just by listening doing to the vocabulary and construction of sentences.

I do like that it was mentioned that people need to really dig into "the sources". The problem we see is what someone mentioned - "according to recent studies/research blah blah blah". Never is the source given. To me, then, it means it is unreliable and highly suspect. When I was my latest master's studies, I just made a statement that seemed to be harmless and a ubiquitous known. I said that multiple-choice testing is the most widely used form of testing. Well, the professor grading the paper intimated that he agreed with the sentiment. His beef was that it was a statement of authority. As I was not a recognized authority on the subject, I needed to reword the sentence and give some sources that would support the statement. While I knew what the guy was saying, it just let my guard down and got a little rushed in the moment. Lesson: dig for the resources; reliable ones.

Great thread.