The Age of Misinformation
Then Presidential Candidate Donald Trump confronts the media during the Republican Primary in 2016. His relationship with news media since his campaign has been turbulent. Source.
Donny Miller once said that “in the age of information, ignorance is a choice.” The sentiment, ultimately a good one, emphasizes that with the vast, readily-available breadth of knowledge made available to us, to not know something is an active choice. However, throughout decades of growing mistrust in institutions and increasing choices of where to get your information, it seems that the notion that ignorance is a choice may be an idea of the past.
The evolution of traditional journalism to media as we know it is revealing of the public’s evolving attitude toward modern-day media. According to the General Social Survey, confidence in the media decreased significantly between 1973 and 2006, ranking the press and television as the least trusted institutions.
In Johnathan Ladd’s book, “Why Americans Distrust the News Media and How it Matters,” he points to a few reasons why this might have happened. Part of the increased distrust in the media is simply that there are no longer just a few media outlets — there are infinite places to find information. While there was never one singular news source, it was much easier to go through a few channels or radio stations and hear what you needed, without the constant bombardment of news notifications and social media. Other changes include the evolving attitude politicians have developed toward independent media and the burgeoning market for “partisan and entertaining styles of news.”
Though a decreased trust in media is not new to Trump-era politics, the president radicalized the concept of “fake news,” and is one of the best examples of a politician’s increasingly negative attitude toward independent media. His frequent accusations of falsity directed toward the news media for reporting on issues like his tax returns or poor coronavirus response prove that the framing of the media as “the enemy” has “undermined the freedom of the press.”
With the public’s increased desire to consume media in more entertaining ways, and notorious platforms on social media, everyday citizens can now share information and contribute to the spread of misinformation. When everyone has a platform to share content, it begs questions of who should be monitoring what should be allowed to be said. According to a PEW study, 51% of Americans who think the information environment will not improve in the coming years think one of two things, that fake news preys on human instinct and that our brains cannot keep up with technology behind misinformation. Those that think it will improve think that a combination of human nature and technology will fix these problems.
We have watched Facebook battles for years, as Mark Zuckerburg fails to implement effective policies to mitigate the spread of misinformation. Recently, he defended his stance that Facebook would not ban any political ads containing lies, this election cycle. While Democrats want more regulation of false information and Republicans to claim these platforms are inherently biased against them, Facebook consistently points to the lack of any governmental regulation as a reason for not having specific policies to mitigate the spread of misinformation.
As teens utilize Tik Tok for political activism, and we can learn about the Green New Deal from Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez while she livestreams an IKEA furniture assembly, it is imperative to understand the evolving importance of social media, despite its imperfections. Throughout the summer, the outpouring of aesthetically-pleasing infographics on Instagram to teach serious concepts pointed to a new type of understanding on social media. A PEW research study in 2018 confirmed that 68% of Americans consume at least some news from social media, proving that social media is not exclusively bad for the American people.
It is easy to generate buzz when the main pieces of a story are limited to a 280-character tweet and algorithms that curate content to a tee, it’s probably even a modern-day version of sensationalism. But in this age of information, there is a hefty responsibility on the consumer to know what is true and it is near impossible to associate unknowing with ignorance.