Traditional news outlets have a problem.

It isn’t a new problem, but, as technology advances, reliable solutions are becoming harder to find.

A quote often attributed to Mark Twain, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”, is perhaps more relevant now than ever given the proliferation of lies, scams, half-truths and “fake news” in 2024.

Just last week, the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics became the latest battleground between truth and falsehood. DaVinci’s famous painting of The Last Supper was supposedly presented, with Christ and his apostles replaced with queer and trans actors covered head to toe in body paint, with exposed testicles on full display as an added bonus.

The reactions on social media poured in by the second, with celebrities and civic leaders alike decrying the attack on Christianity.

The only problem? The attack never existed.

Various online news outlets, ones that worry more about getting reactions or shares on Facebook than reporting facts, spread the lie that those in charge of the event had issued an apology for their depiction of one of Christianity’s greatest moments.

What had actually happened was the director, a Frenchman named Thomas Jolly, had merely apologized to those who took offense to his performance, titled “Festivity,” that referenced the pagan traditions of Ancient Greece, where the Olympic Games originated. Many who shared comments or denounced the performance never paid attention to the fact checking that took place over the days that followed, and even fewer had any interest in finding out they were lied to.

A similar situation occurred just days later. On Thursday, Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her match against Imane Khelif of Algeria after just 46 seconds. Immediately, speculation began that Khelif, a woman, was actually a biological male. Posts calling Khelif trans were shared hundreds of thousands of times and articles referencing her failed gender eligibility test, which was issued by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023, began to be recirculated.

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer made famous for her run-ins with trans athlete Lea Thomas, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a message in support of the Italian. “Men don’t belong in women’s sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini,” said Gaines.

With the narrative set, there was very little desire to find out what actually happened with the test Khelif was issued in 2023, and even less interest in a nuanced discussion of where intersex athletes fit into the current sporting landscape.

Does it matter to those who shared the memes alleging that Khelif was a man that the exam was performed by a certifying body that has routinely been the center of controversy? Does it ring any alarm bells that IBA president Umar Kremlev alleged to Russian news agency TASS last year Khelif had XY chromosomes, something that has never been proven because Kremlev insists that the test specifics and results are confidential. Russian athletes have been caught up in doping scandals for decades now, should we automatically believe any news reported by Russian media over what the IOC, the only governing body that matters here, actually said?

The truth is that lies are most dangerous when they reveal a truth about us. Those who want Trump to be a buffoon or a fascist will be the fastest to share articles supporting a lie they already believe in. The same goes for conservatives who see attacks on their faith as often as Punxsutawney Phil gets the annual weather forecast wrong.

The truth is often hard to find and harder to understand once you finally get to it. Lies are easy to consume, convenient to spread, and almost impossible to completely refute.

Journalists aren’t making it any easier on ourselves by giving in to the public’s demand for information that is easy to consume, but often missing key details.

We must ask questions when we come across new information, especially when it agrees with the world view we already believe in. There are billions of dollars to be made every day by blurring the lines between reality and fiction, and the deck is stacked against you. We must all take our time, vet our sources and, above all, be quick to issue a correction once we get it wrong.

We at The Daily Iberian are going to do our best to provide our readers with news that is both factual and relevant to our community. All we ask is that you give us time to get it right.