More on Fake News, Disinformation, and Countering These with Science

Abstract

The year 2021 began with a flood of news bulletins and television news cameras centered on demonstrators attacking the US Capitol building. The attack followed a nationally televised series of goading encouragements and fabricated justifications by Donald Trump during a political rally in Washington, DC, where he instructed demonstrators to march on the Capitol. The goal was to disrupt the required Congressional verification of the 2020 presidential election results. The ensuing news coverage of the melee featured exchanges between political parties and reports on social media tweets with conflicting mass communication appeals and false claims (false claims on social media spread six times faster than accurate news). This uprising and subsequent media coverage resulted in an intense crossfire of conflicting mass, social, and organizational communications and a vote to impeach Trump for an unprecedented second time during his presidency.These events of global impact occurred against the backdrop of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the greatest public health challenge in a century. The US response was characterized by weak and inconsistent federal government leadership. Moreover, the governmental response to the pandemic was heavily influenced, and in some cases seemingly wholly determined, by political considerations and ignored evidence-based scientific knowledge and experience. One consequence of ignoring science has been the undermining of the credibility and reputation of our top public health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. In short, political machinations about the most effective approaches to combat the pandemic in the United States were louder, more concentrated, and more dramatic than most scientific dramas.The public health effects of misinformation and disinformation have been felt long before the events of 2020. Climate change is one public health issue that exemplifies some of the debates around the politics, economics, and lifestyle changes that arouse public anxiety and controversy. These debates also offer parallels for the study of media disinformation that has, for several decades, featured mass media promotion of tobacco products aimed traditionally at men, but increasingly over the decades at youth and women as well. Beginning in the late 1970s, the tobacco industry's chemical adaptation and promotion of mentholated products were designed to make the side effects of

Exploring Denial Strategies against Climate Change across Agents and Media Platforms

“…According to the findings of this study, agents are less likely to use print media for climate change disinformation compared with social media platforms, which could be due to the rigorous standards employed by traditional media to validate sources (Strudwicke & Grant, 2020). To mitigate climate change disinformation, sources of disinformation must be taken seriously (Green et al, 2021). In this regard, some studies emphasized the need for education, particularly digital literacy, as a vital means through which society can be protected against the spread of climate change disinformation (Lopez & Share, 2010;Strudwicke & Grant, 2020).…”

“…The processing of information becomes more challenging in this postdigital era (Cheng & Gonzalez-Ramirez, 2021). This phenomenon has created the prospect for communication researchers to advance research on media disinformation (Green et al, 2021). In essence, "research in the domain of disinformation detection and related fields has gained momentum, and different aspects of the problem are being approached by researchers from different perspectives" (Shu et al, 2020;p.…”

“…1). Policymakers have also reflected on climate change as they debate its scientific and non-scientific sources of information, activism, and deniability (Green et al, 2021).…”

“…As such, this study explores the agents' identities, strategies, and the various media platforms they use to convey climate change disinformation. As mentioned by Green et al (2021), identifying the sources can help to mitigate climate change disinformation.…”

Designing for Dissemination and Sustainability to Promote Equitable Impacts on Health

“…In the time since, interest has grown in the use of the internet and social media for research dissemination and health communication with the public and clinical and public health professional audiences ( 37 , 57 , 75 ). Although it can be challenging to address health misinformation and disinformation on social media and other forms of mass media ( 62 ), the ability to disseminate to the public at such a large scale has been unprecedented. A 2020 review of social media use for knowledge translation and education of physicians and trainees identified over 450 examples of the use of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and podcasts for medical education ( 37 ).…”