Letter: Opinions pretending to be facts aren’t truth

Published 8:14 pm Wednesday, December 22, 2021

It seems to me that in the last few months opinions expressed in the Post have become more stridently determined to convince us, the readers, to accept opinions as fact.

Misinformation and disinformation require careful reading. Misinformation, according to Merriam Webster, is false or inaccurate information, especially that which is to deceive. A common example of misinformation, rumors, may be eagerly shared as true but still be blatantly false. Disinformation is false information deliberately and often covertly spread in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth (think manufactured outrage or a lie).

Both are misleading and serve as a ploy to deceive, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

We all have opinions, but opinions masquerading as facts are not facts, or sometimes even the truth.

— Beth Foreman

Salisbury