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Billionaire LA Times Owner Says ‘Fake News’ And How It Spreads On Social Media Are The ‘Cancer Of Our Time’

Billionaire LA Times Owner Says ‘Fake News’ And How It Spreads On Social Media Are The ‘Cancer Of Our Time’

Written by Ann Brown

Sep 30, 2018

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The owner of the Los Angeles Times is speaking out about fake news, explaining that how it spreads on social media the “cancer of our time.”

While billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong advocates for new ways for people to consume news, he’s not happy about how fake news spreads on social media. In fact, told “Squawk Alley” how it’s spread is the “cancer of our time and social media is a form of metastasis of news. We need to change that.”

He added: “The short attention span we’re creating in this millennium is actually very dangerous.It’s the unintended consequences of social media.”

Soon-Shiong, also chairman and CEO of biotech firm NantKwest, was answering a question about the state of media and its relationship to social networks.

fake news
(Photo: AP)

 

Soon-Shiong is a South African/American surgeon, entrepreneur, and philanthropist of Chinese descent. Earlier this year, he became the owner of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune. Soon-Shiong is also chair of NantWorks, LLC, executive director of the Wireless Health Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, as well as an adjunct professor of surgery at UCLA. He purchased the LA Times for $500 million in June, reported CNBC.

Soon-Shiong, a minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers since 2010, was estimated by Forbes as having a net worth of US$9 billion, ranking him #47 among U.S. billionaires.

Soon-Shiong said people cannot differentiate from “fake news,” “real news” or “opinion news” on Facebook.

“Concern about the phenomenon led Facebook and Google to announce that they’ll crack down on fake news sites, restricting their ability to garner ad revenue,” Fact Check reported.

 

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