The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune on Russian disinformation:

Deploying disinformation as well as other asymmetric tactics, Russia attacked America’s 2016 election. “Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretar y (Hillar y) Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump,” according to a 2017 report from the director of national intelligence.

In 2020, Russians have returned. And they’ve got company: China, which the National Counterintelligence and Security Center believes prefers Joe Biden, and Iran are also tr ying to degrade our democracy. “Foreign states will continue to use covert and overt influence measures in their attempts to sway U.S. voters’ preferences and perspectives, shift U.S. policies, increase discord in the United States, and undermine the American people’s confidence in our democratic process,” according to an NCSC statement. With these three nations “all seeking greater influence online, the dynamic somewhat resembles a Cold War arms race, but with information rather than missiles as the weapon,” Sarah Kreps, a Brookings Institution senior fellow, wrote in an analysis. “Whether the United States has learned how to guard against these weapons, and their evolving use, remains far from clear.”

Part of the guard is government, which has mostly focused on preventing an election hack. But less has been done to blunt the insidious internet meddling from foreign forces or even deliberate disinformation from homegrown groups. Sure, some social media companies have mitigated the impact. Facebook, for instance, announced Sept. 24 that it was taking down three disinformation networks with ties to Russia’s militar y and intelligence agencies. But for the most part, social media sites have reacted after the damage is done.

Since these institutions can’t do it alone, individuals are the best line of disinformation defense. But unfortunately, it turns out that we’re not always that good at it. That’s the conclusion from a study by the Reboot Foundation that states, “People are overconfident about their media literacy skills, and they believe that they have more skills than they actually do. For all age groups, determining the reliability of websites is problematic.” Especially social media. Even among moderate and light users, “the more time spent on social media, the worse the user’s news judgment.”

Sound judgment on media choice is important in imparting facts. What works best? According to the Pew Research Center, which ranked respondents on correct answers to 29 factbased questions, the highest political knowledge is seen by those who “use a news website or app as the most common way” to get political and election news. That figure, at 45% “high political knowledge” and 31% “middle political knowledge,” is followed by radio (42% high/34% middle), print (41%/29%), cable TV (35%/29%), network TV (29%/35%), social media (17%/27%) and local TV (10%/21%).

Emphasizing professionally produced news (even delivered via social media) isn’t self-ser ving but democracy preser ving, as Americans need to be on guard that they don’t advance adversaries’ attacks on the 2020 election.

New York Daily News on Trump and police reform:

As part of his reelection campaign, Donald Trump would have us believe that he’s jumped aboard the criminal justice reform bandwagon. He spent $5 million on a Super Bowl ad showing his signing of the First Step Act, which forced the resentencing of thousands of drug and nonviolent federal prisoners across the country.

That law — which President Barack Obama couldn’t get through a Republican Congress — is surely positive.

But in classic bait-and-switch fashion, Trump has actually undermined most police reform efforts, in particular dismissing most in the post-george Floyd moment. Indeed, the mark of the Trump administration has been overturning any forward-looking plans pushed through during Obama’s presidency.

No wonder Trump would, in a public address, hope that cops aren’t “too nice” to suspects upon arrest. No wonder Trump repeats unconditional support for police and calls Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate.”

He doesn’t want constructive policing reform. He wants an enemy. ing this information on the coronavirus. People are sick and tired of it. They just like to continue this hyperbolic … enablement of people to cause fear. Stop printing that nonsense. Get some news that’s worth … reading.

ABORTION’S CAUSE

Let’s at least all get the words right. Ever yone is pro-life and ever yone is against abor tion. We also all know that due to misplaced sperm, abortion is the final result. The waiting room at an abortion clinic is the saddest place I’ve ever been. If the men who caused the need for an abor tion would sit in one of those waiting rooms, hopefully they would realize the horrible consequences of the reckless behavior.

GOP , DEM STANCES?

Would the Repor ter-herald please publish a brief comparison of Republicans’ and Democrats’ plans on key issues to include: health care, retirement, opening schools, job assistance, education, rural concerns, housing, taxes, criminal justice, and racial and gender equity?

SINGERS ARRESTED

The news agencies better star t printing some of this stuff. In Moscow, three people were arrested for singing Christian religious songs. And this is not Moscow, Russia. This is Moscow, Idaho. People, it’s time to wake up and star t standing for something instead of watching what’s going on.

Editor’s note: According to news repor ts, the three were arrested for singing while not wearing masks or social distancing.