In today\u2019s day and age, accessibility to what\u2019s going on in the world today is better than it has been in history; whether through the use of the internet, a TV, or simply talking to someone, we all get information in one way or another. That said, while we are more informed than ever, ironically we are also the most misinformed we have ever been. According to a report titled, \u201cMany Americans Believe Fake News Is Showing Confusion\u201d done by Pew Research Center in late 2016, it states that \u201cabout 64% of Americans say that fabricated news stories cause a great deal of confusion about basic facts about those issues\u201d it also states \u201c about 23% of Americans shared made-up news stories.\u201d These are horrifying statistics because misinformation can be very damaging, for example being misinformed on topics like vaccines and international affairs can and has had a terrible impact on the world. The spike in many people falling for misinformation results from many people taking things at face value without digging deeper to know the validity of either the claim or the source. More people should stress doing their research rather than basing their opinions solely on headlines because headlines aren\u2019t reliable, research reduces the chance that people will fall for false information, and it allows for a greater understanding of difficult subjects.
Misinformation is constantly being spread like it\u2019s scared it\u2019s gonna go out of style, a big cause of it is due to the underlying, manipulative reasoning behind headlines. The purpose of a headline is to simply make the audience want to read the rest of the paper, you might ask, \u201cWhy is that such a bad thing?\u201d and while that isn\u2019t inherently offensive, the part that has to do with the regulations, or lack thereof, when it comes to making a headline. On the University of Washington Libraries website they have a whole section dedicated to this topic called, \u201cDetecting bias in the News\u201d which shows examples of two articles side by side describing the same Bill Cosby case, however the language is clearly different. The one written by the NY Times is titled, \u201cJudge allows testimony of another accuser in Cosby case\u201d while the one written by SFgate is titled,\u201d Bill Cosby sex assault trial: judge allows only 1 other accuser to testify, not 13.\u201d The news will always want the audience to read their story compared to any other news sites because that\u2019s what the news business is running on, this is why people shouldn\u2019t simply get sources from one side of the story, without acknowledging the other. Rather than leaving the investigation of information to someone who might be biased, do some yourself to know for sure if things are how they are depicted on the news.
Being able to identify misinformation from real information is something that many people struggle with according to a research study conducted by Stanford University titled, \u201cEvaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning\u201d created and collaborated on by multiple researchers most notably Sam Winburg, an American educational and cognitive psychologist, and Sarah McGrew, author and researcher of digital literacy. The study collected and analyzed 7,804 responses from students ranging from middle school to college students. The study looked at students’ evaluation of Twitter news, evidence evaluation, and social media claims, when it was all said and done, the results came back that many students struggled to differentiate misinformation from real information. Due to that struggle to differentiate information, proper evaluation of resources and claims is important. It should be a part of everyone’s routine when gaining information from an outside source rather than jumping to a conclusion and taking action. There are multiple reasons why people should start going out of their way to do research now, however, one reason stands out among the rest, that being the advancement of technology. Technology has grown so much over the years, that we might have known that information could be manipulated in writing, like in the newspaper, or in an article on a computer; however, we used to be able to rely on video and photographs as hard evidence. Unfortunately, due to the advancement of technology things like A.I., deep fakes, and voice changers have begun to start changing that notion that we used to believe. An article titled, \u201cArtificial Intelligence, Deep Fakes, and the Uncertain Future of Truth\u201d written by John Villasenor, the co-director of the UCLA Institution for Technology, law, and Policy, goes deeper into the topic. \u201c Because they are so realistic, deepfakes can scramble our understanding of truth in multiple ways. By exploiting our inclination to trust the reliability of evidence that we see with our own eyes, they can turn fiction into apparent fact.\u201d He goes on to say, \u201cWhen we see videos showing incongruous behavior, it will be important not to immediately assume that the actions depicted are real.\u201d It\u2019s essential to start getting used to looking at sources now before technology makes it harder to know the truth than it is already.
Lastly, as a final point, researching sources and claims might seem like a daunting task, however, while it can be it doesn\u2019t have to be, a simple Google search and looking deeper can tell you a lot about a claim or its source. People can and should do this because it will benefit them in several ways and not simply allow themselves to fall victim to false information.
Overall, misinformation can lead to many consequences that can reach farther than intended leading to it affecting whole societies, which is why people should research a topic before simply believing the headline.
Works Cited :
Barthel, Michael. \u201cMany Americans Believe Fake News Is Sowing Confusion.\u201d Pew Research
Center\u2019s Journalism Project, Pew Research Center, 15 Dec. 2016, www.pewresearch.org\/journalism\/2016\/12\/15\/many-americans-believe-fake-news-is-sowing-confusion\/. Accessed 31 Oct. 2023.
Engler, Alex, et al. \u201cArtificial Intelligence, Deepfakes, and the Uncertain Future of Truth.\u201d Brookings, 9 Mar. 2022, www.brookings.edu\/articles\/artificial-intelligence-deepfakes-and-the-uncertain-future-of-truth\/.
\u201cEvaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning.\u201d Stanford Digital Repository, 2016, purl.stanford.edu\/fv751yt5934.
\u201cLibrary Guides: Savvy Info Consumers: Detecting Bias in the News.\u201d Detecting Bias in the News – Savvy Info Consumers – Library Guides at University of Washington Libraries, guides.lib.uw.edu\/research\/evaluate\/bias.
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In today\u2019s day and age, accessibility to what\u2019s going on in the world today is better than it has been in history; whether through the use of the internet, a TV, or simply talking to someone, we all get information in one way or another. That said, while we are more informed than ever, ironically… <\/p>\n