Misinformation is even more likely to travel and be amplified by the ongoing diversification of news sources and the rapid news cycle. Today, publishing news is as simple as clicking “send.” This, combined with people’s tendency to seek out information that confirms their beliefs, tends to magnify the effects of misinformation. Nyhan says that although a good dose of skepticism doesn’t hurt while reading news stories, the onus to prevent misinformation should be on political pundits and journalists rather than readers. “If we all had to research every factual claim we were exposed to, we’d do nothing else,” Nyhan says. “We have to address the supply side of misinformation, not just the demand side.”

Correcting misinformation, however, isn’t as simple as presenting people with true facts. When someone reads views from the other side, they will create counterarguments that support their initial viewpoint, bolstering their belief of the misinformation. Retracting information does not appear to be very effective either. Lewandowsky and colleagues published two papers in 2011 that showed a retraction, at best, halved the number of individuals who believed misinformation.
Scientific American, Diss Information: Is There a Way to Stop Popular Falsehoods from Morphing into “Facts”?

91 notes

Show

  1. homecomingqueen reblogged this from upworthy
  2. traviscorrigan reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  3. journalismstudentlinkdump reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  4. asiaboochodrp reblogged this from upworthy
  5. likealittlechild reblogged this from upworthy
  6. hypermediawatch reblogged this from upworthy
  7. theoldwalkingsong reblogged this from upworthy
  8. theonecalledbiz reblogged this from anarcho-alowisney
  9. adventuresofmatt reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  10. katiem80 reblogged this from upworthy
  11. nocompromise-noregrets reblogged this from upworthy
  12. thebackstagepress reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  13. sylarsrden reblogged this from upworthy
  14. theyalwayswantyoutoproveit reblogged this from theamericanbear
  15. automatic-bushka reblogged this from theamericanbear
  16. randomactsofchaos reblogged this from theamericanbear
  17. basicallyami reblogged this from anarcho-alowisney
  18. anarcho-alowisney reblogged this from theamericanbear
  19. theamericanbear reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  20. hadeshorn reblogged this from upsettingshorts
  21. krowface reblogged this from upworthy
  22. misantropo reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  23. teendropbomb reblogged this from upworthy
  24. chainofreactions reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  25. rex-power-colt reblogged this from they-drift-like-worried-fire
  26. aliceincrohnsland reblogged this from upworthy
  27. brooklynese reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  28. farjieleena reblogged this from futurejournalismproject

Blog comments powered by Disqus