As a general rule, we believe very little of what we read on the Internet.
And during an election – such as the federal campaign we are now enjoying – we believe even less.
There is so much nonsense and so many outright lies floating around cyberspace that everyone should be extremely cautious about what they believe.
To be honest, some of the nonsense – not specifically election-related – is so ridiculous as to be funny.
One of our favourites is the recurring claim – in a 'Paid Content' section of the CNN website – that an NWT town has the worst reputation of any city in the U.S.A. For months, that town was Tulita, until it recently changed to Hay River.
What does that 'article' say about the people who wrote it and what they think of the people who might read it?
Well, it shows that such articles are being targeted individually. That's not new or surprising, but it is always a bit disconcerting every time it happens. And that will no doubt happen in the federal election.
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CNN website image
Plus, describing Hay River as an American city seems to be saying that some people in Hay River might not know their country. Sometimes people have trouble with geography, but still.
Some of the other ridiculous stuff – we dare not use the word 'information' – that we see on the Internet includes obviously Photoshopped images, ranging from massive animals to amazing discoveries of long-lost structures in a jungle somewhere.
Although that's funny, it is not so funny that there are intentional lies passing for information, and many people apparently believe them.
And it gets even harder to discern fact from fiction because many news stories are written with an obvious bias. In the United States, Fox News has a bias towards the Trump administration, while CNN has a bias against the Trump administration.
Is there news bias in this federal election?
There seems to be suspicions in some quarters that the CBC News website is pro-Liberal. We can't say for sure, but there is no doubt that it is on the liberal side of the political spectrum.
However, the CBC website's comments section is overwhelmingly and virulently anti-Trudeau, so much so that it's suspicious. (Hello, Russia???)
Whenever we visit news websites, we take everything with a grain of salt, except for a few.
Our own Northern News Services Ltd. website has no political bias. We can quite confidently make that claim, because we would know if it did.
Nationally and internationally, the only news website we trust completely is the BBC. It has no obvious bias one way or the other. It might be a British thing to be cynical and suspicious of everything everybody says.
Actually, the BBC is covering the Canadian federal election, while it is virtually invisible on CNN. So that's another point for the BBC.
We believe everyone should be extremely suspicious of what they read on the Internet during this federal election campaign.
At the best of times, the Internet is a minefield of lies, distortions and con games. During an election, it only gets worse.