Disinformation and You
Growing up in the 80s and 90s may have given my generation an advantage in what to believe in the news and on the net. In the last decade we've seen a major shift from objectivity to subjectivity in news reporting and journalism.
What's caused the shift? Are people more gullible? Do journalists really think they can just say what they want and not report on facts but use opinion to drive ratings? Well yes.
Judging your sources
It used to be, the major outlets at least would focus on the facts. These days most reporting is emotionally charged, subjective, and based on the opinions and leading questions asked by reporters.
How do we as consumers combat this and still get the information we're seeking? Use multiple sources surrounding the same story. It's an extra step but a necessary one unless you like being in the dark.
Next we'll look at judging individual sources
Put on your thinking caps
A good report answers 6 main questions about any given incident. They shouldn't be opinionated or charged in any way. Many reports and reporters skip straight to subjective questions or personal speculation before briefing the facts of any given story.
Who, what, where, when, why, how. Those are the six questions to answer objectively but are so often skipped/glossed over in favor of juicier reporting.
No big deal right? Wrong and here's why.
Lots of people together are stupid.
Sorry. Society has gotten a bit dumber over the years especially here in the U.S. Critical thinking skills aren't being taught or they're a bastardized version.
So what can we do? I'll focus on the reading of news but you can apply what I say to all modes of communication.
Read through your story once just to absorb the meat of the report
Scan through looking for the objective questions
If any question asks about thoughts or feelings disregard it.
These are useless for informational purposes.
Communication has but 3 purposes persuasion, information, and entertainment(PIE)
Information is just that; neutral or in the middle without emotional tie.
Based on the objective portions of the report you can now assess how you feel and if you want to seek further information you're not clouded by speculation.
Watch out for stories that try to lead you i.e. only tell part of it or end on a speculation.
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Lloyd McVey II
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