Misinformation has infiltrated every part of society: through our news cycle, our social media, our political arena, and every other branch of access. It influences our very perception of the world, yet remains veiled and largely unaddressed.
Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Election have exposed the vast reach of this social issue.
However, misinformation has been prominent throughout history. Publicly-disseminated ‘half-truths’ arise at the very points when history is being made.
When isolated and amplified, it is this same tactic that is used to dismiss unquestionable historical events like the Moon Landing and the Jewish Holocaust of World War II.
One key distinction that must be made when it comes to false information is the line between misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is incorrect information that is allowed to spread, oftentimes through online mediums.
Disinformation, however, according to Meira Gebel of Business Insider, is “intentionally, maliciously deceptive”.
Disinformation is a form of false information that is used to manipulate the actions of the listener towards a specific outcome. Misinformation, on the other hand, is unintentionally inaccurate. Misinformation may seem less harmful, however, both forms of media lies can be easily spread by an uninformed reader.
Even readers who consider themselves to be “informed” can unintentionally aid toxic misinformation spread by sharing an unvetted source through social media. This reoccurring cycle of falsification thrives on a lack of media literacy.
Media literacy is knowing what you’re sharing and where exactly your information comes from: not just according to the word of an influencer or celebrity but from tangible and backable facts.
In the 2019 book “The Power of Misinformation: How False Beliefs Spread” by James Owen Weatherall, and Cailin, O’Connor, this concept of false beliefs is heavily discussed.
One major question Weatherall and O’Connor address that we must ask ourselves is whether or not true democracy can survive in the era of false information. Because democracy is founded on principles like truth and justice when the fundamental concept of truth is uprooted, what is left of democracy?
The direct correlation between the level of trust we endow the ‘truth’ and our trust for others political and socially is clear. The less we trust political figures and our fellow citizens, the less we can believe facts produced by such sources.
In recent years, a general increase of individualism and a shrinking political structure is said by a Pew Research Center study to have increased over 65% of U.S. adults believe that a lack of trust in the federal government and one another makes it harder to solve problems.
The problem with misinformation is that in certain cases, even when a piece of information is exposed as false, it still has power over our culture. The misinformation that we fall prey to reveals the cognitive and perception-based vulnerabilities within our view of the world. In other words, misinformation shows us what we can and will be fooled by. The fact that we are vulnerable to certain forms of deception is terrifying and media literacy must be cultivated to combat it.

The following interviews were conducted between reporters and students Hannah Laflen (Senior), and Cooper Peck (Junior), concerning their personal opinions on misinformation and media literacy.

Interview with Hannah Laflen:

How would you define misinformation?
“I would define misinformation as a piece of information that is extremely exaggerated, or points fingers at someone. And obviously any blatantly false information…I think they [radicalized new sources] are one of the biggest contributors to the misinformation.”

How has misinformation affected your perspective of politics?
“I have realistically been on both sides of that political spectrum. I grew up in a really conservative town with a really conservative family. And by going to school and educating myself, and learning more of what I didn’t know before, I have kind of made a full one-eighty.”

How do you feel about the factual discrepancy between radicalized news sources?
“I do look at information from both ends of the spectrum, CNN and Fox…It does make me angry though, that people are so critical about where you get your news information, that people have to look on both sides…and have to verify their information through multiple sources.”

Do you think that a non-politicized media is possible?
“I truthfully don’t think that will ever happen. I think that we are always going to have differing news sources and I think in reality that’s good but I don’t think there is a reality in which we will see that.”

Whose job is it to teach students how to gather news in a factual and well-rounded fashion?
“I think it’s a teacher’s job to teach you how to get your information but it is most definitely on the individual to go out and seek that information and for them to educate themselves.”

How has your involvement in government classes helped you?
“Taking government classes and AP Government has contributed to my knowledge…Knowing information from both sides, and both sources and comparing them is so important. Getting that information and educating yourself on politics in general, and widening your sources is what has given me my opinion. Having an in-depth knowledge or looking at politics and the history of politics has given me my perspective.”

Interview with Cooper Peck:

How would you define misinformation?
“Very similarly, I think it comes down to when they [news sources] make information fit with their opinions.”

How has misinformation affected the decline of trust in the media?
“It has definitely gotten worse and worse as people become more and more radicalized.”

How has politics influenced your view of misinformation in the media?
“Just knowing how much bias is out there both in the media, and seeing it through events, it has made me fall more towards the middle on political ideas, simply not knowing who I can trust”.

Who does the responsibility of teaching media literacy fall upon?
“I think it should take place at a younger level, but it is more of a personal responsibility you bring upon yourself…I have gotten more interested in how politics and government work but I also have a twin brother who I am around all the time and he doesn’t have an interest in that stuff. It just comes down to personal responsibility and involved you want to be.”