Your’s truly has been struggling for years to explain the meaning and ramifications of both misinformation and disinformation (MisandDis). It didn’t help that the examples and cases cited revolved around world events and politics. We all know trying to talk about those subjects ends in a stubborn, sad stalemate with each side the victor and each side the loser.

But life dropped the perfect subject for explaining not only how MisandDis happens, but how fast they happen and how hard it is slow or correct. Is the subject The Venezuela Invasion? The Congo strife? Greenland? Eurovision 2026 Dropouts? Sidebar: Thanks to an Austrian win in 2025 the 2026 competition will be held in a weiner. Google it.

All good guesses for most of us, and Eurovision was close, but a subject easier for most of the world to finally focus their concern? MTV. On December 22, 2025, MTV—wait, you all know what MTV is, right? I forgot my audience. If you don’t know, look it up and even if you’re old, where the hell have you been these last 44 years? Save me space and google it.

MTV put out a press release with the Headline “MTV Going Off The Air” The release stated all the facts in the article explaining that headline but forgot modern readers are not reading articles but headlines and clickbait. You, the reader, for example, did your news “aggregator” or collector, or speed service source app inform you MTV was going “off the Air”?

And do you think MTV is no longer being broadcast or streamed? You should think that, because millions of podcasters, new apps, and news sources picked up the headline and ruined most of the world’s day with news of the beloved (??) MTV falling by the wayside. The internet erupted with “Save MTV” lunacy, as if not having MTV was like, like NOT having MTV and The Jersey Shore People and Real Life people, and…can’t help you with it anymore because MTV was sent off my personal airwaves when they stopped showing music videos with naked women. But others are really, really, really were going to miss MTV so much…so, so, much.

MTV is not going off the air. I checked YouTubeTV and RuPaul is strutting his stuff on MTV right next to me as I type. (No, it’s not distracting, it’s research.) So what happened? No body did any research. The new normal for information and news delivery, per the request of everyone but me, it seems, is to listen to podcasts and stories shared on sites like X, (Official name: “Xformerly known as twitter”), Instagram, and all the other crappy nu-researched, unedited, and unregulated places lazy people get news, now. Why the feck did I get a degree in journalism? The original press release from MTV talked about ancillary MTV services like Music, and other related MTV sites I could care less about, but THE MTV was still going to “make content”. The innocent but incomplete headline of the press release was seized, copied, pasted, and talked about all over the world in hours. And the angst began. I’m wondering if the second part of MYV’s marketing plan*, the explanation for why the entire world mistakenly thinks MTV is gone, will go around the world as fast as the first stage.

            Facebook. LinkedIn. MySpace. All of the social web sites young and old people enjoy visiting are NOT news organizations. They are mouthpieces** and post “news” for “click bait”, or “rage bait”, not information and education. I appeal to all readers to move back to legacy media of ANY bias to get news and facts about events of the world. Legacy media may—will–slant the news but they won’t make it up and won’t disseminate MisandDis. They get sued for that shite. Podcasters get a bonus. Do you know where your news sources are tonight?

“Google it” is not an information source, it is a research tool. If you google “shite”, for example, you will get thousands of responses. How to know which is right? First, isn’t not knowing anything about “shite” why you googled it to begin with? Hm. Now you might have to start thinking. Sucks, huh.

            *Genius, utter genius. They’ve got an old fart like me talking about them. And you reading. When was the last time you paid ANY attention to MTV?

            **Emphasis on “mouth”.