Editor,

When San Mateo County’s student journalists recently attended NorCal Media Day at Riordin High School in San Francisco, it sounds like they got an education-packed day.

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(8) comments

Terence Y

Thanks for your letter, Ms. Eakin. If “unnamed/anonymous” sources are used in this day and age, especially in political reporting, content may not be taken seriously and instead, readers will rely upon the political bent of the reporter and their past articles to determine whether there’s any credence to their reporting. We know mainstream media has used plenty of “unnamed/anonymous” sources to create rumors or assert wrongdoing when nothing of the sort is taking place. When people show us who they are, we should believe them.

As for cited sources, we should review and determine if they’re trustworthy. For instance, if any response, including AI, cites Wikipedia as a source, take the response with a grain of salt and instead, assume the response is biased. When Wikipedia or any other fake news source shows us who they are, we should believe them.

DavidKristofferson

“When people show us who they are, we should believe them.” - “Terrence Y” finally gives us indisputable proof in his/her own words that he/she, writing under a pseudonym, should not be believed. Any rational person who has read his/her writings already knew this though 😁!

SMpool

Agreed 100%. The endless MAGA talking points coming from Y are exhausting, but he/she and those flooding the zone with conspiracy theories and false information are beginning to look more and more desperate. Looking forward to No Kings Day and the majority of those defending democracy showing up.

easygerd

He/she is not a real person. If it sounds like a duck and ... and this one sounds like a Russian chatbot.

Run the texts through an AI tool and the AI will find 90% overlap with typical Russian chatbot talking points and maybe 10% original thought. Since it is hard to defend the current administration in anything (still waiting for the non-stop 'winning') - it's mostly about Whataboutism. "Remember Benghazi" or "Comey and the email server" and such things.

He/she is basically a Russian AI chatbot, which is why I call him/her TBot. For him/her I on the other hand sound like a Silicon Valley trained AI, just smarter, less biased and way more more transparent.

Which is why he/she calls me eGerd.

In the end our comments or discussions don't matter anyways, just enjoy the entertainment.

Terence Y

Three for one… Hilarious. DavidKristofferrson, SMpool, and eGerd have shown us who they are. Let’s recap.

DavidKristofferson pushes climate change as an issue yet he has no problems giving get-out-of-jail free cards to climate conference attendees who take 400+ private planes and who knows how many commercial planes to attend, of all things, a climate conference to lecture everyone else on reducing carbon emissions. Hypocrisy abounds. BTW, everyone is writing under a pseudonym so nobody should be believed?

SMpool has said she takes pride in the progress made in women’s and civil rights yet she’s never answered why it’s okay for biological men claiming they’re women to compete, steal medals, and in some instances injure biological women. Or why it’s okay for men to use women’s locker rooms (a la Planet Fitness). Or whether it would be okay for men claiming to be women advertise as woman-owned businesses. Perhaps SMpool has a different definition of “progress.” BTW, we already have no kings – Revolutionary War, anyone?

eGerd considers biological men competing against biological women to be acceptable because, according to eGerd, there’s only a minor percentage of biological males doing so. If cheating is allowed and tolerated, you can bet there will be more of it. Perhaps eGerd has a different definition of “fair play.” BTW, how many AI tools use idioms? Apparently TBot does. A game changer.

These folks have shown us who they are - they’ll say anything but they can’t justify it against common sense. Instead, when pressed, they’ll resort to personal attacks. As for believing them – we can believe they should not be believed. BTW, I thank them for attacking me instead of furthering their pet issues. I hope they continue to do so.

easygerd

Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just repeating what the AI written by right-wing tech bros is telling us.

And the right-wing AI seems to recognize the brotherhood. They think TBot is pro-Russian and there to sow misinformation.

I would agree. I mean no one that is pro-Trump would repeatedly dive into the discussion about teenagers and their gender identity knowing fully well about the Epstein files and what they mean to Trump, Melania, RFK, Bannon, Musk, Miller. Right now these guys want to stay as far away as humanly possible from teenagers and sex-related topics.

If you want to sow distrust, it's a real stroke of genius to keep harping on a problem that isn't really one just to keep the Epstein files burning on everyone's minds. I mean Stephen Colbert from the Colbert Report couldn't have done it any better.

But back to what the right-wing AI had to say:

"The text employs common rhetorical strategies found in online disinformation and polarized political discussions, but not exclusively linked to one source.

Targeting mainstream media and anonymous sourcing: The first part of the text focuses on delegitimizing mainstream media and using anonymous sources to "create rumors." This tactic is a CLASSIC DISINFORMATION method to sow distrust and discredit reliable sources.

Attacking specific sources: The text singles out Wikipedia as an untrustworthy, "biased" or "fake news" source. This TACTIC is used to DISMISS INFORMATION that contradicts a predetermined narrative, regardless of the source's actual credibility.

The "firehose of falsehood" approach: The tactic of flooding the information space with conflicting messages to create uncertainty is a known characteristic of some propaganda campaigns. While this text is not a flood itself, the style of attacking multiple sources ("mainstream media," "Wikipedia," and "any other fake news source") is consistent with this tactic. "

PS.: And if I'm known for anything please let it be BIKE LANES. SMPool can have the biological men/women thing. That's too complicated for me.

Terence Y

eGerd – TBot here. Don’t shoot the messenger. Perhaps you don’t realize, but AI, like people, is known to have hallucinations. You can’t believe everything AI tells you. For instance, if AI cites Wikipedia, you may as well question the result. What’s the old saying, “Garbage in, garbage out”? Weren’t Wikipedia editors attempting to delete the murder of Iryna Zarutska and the alleged attacker’s name? PS: As long as you don’t call out the cheating in the biological men/women thing, we’ll wonder whether “fair play” is ever in play. And no need to worry. I won’t forget your pet issue in advocating for bike lanes.

easygerd

Fabulous, you are doing it again. Talking about teenage sex topics leads everyone's thought right back to Epstein, QAnon, Trump, Melania, Musk, RFK, Bannon, Matt Gaetz and all the others allegedly taking the Lolita Express to the forbidden Island where pedophilia wasn't just tolerated, it was endorsed.

All these topics Republicans care about - teenage abortion, high school gender confusion, college gender athletics, it's all about the thought process of dirty old men. It's an open celebration of pedophilia.

If you really want to protect the biological woman and her safety, join me in supporting separated bike lanes so the biological woman can be safe from the vehicular violence brought to them by the much stronger and more ruthless biological man.

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