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Arizona makes headlines for some real head-scratching stuff. It’s frustrating for those of us who love the Grand Canyon State and know the great things that happen here — news that rarely makes national headlines. Now, we’re on the national stage again, as the epicenter of election falsehoods.
Thanks to our neck-and-neck presidential election in 2020 and all the calamity it brought forth in Maricopa County, all eyes are on us — and the onus is on us to weed through disinformation. I believe it’s our responsibility to help our loved ones, neighbors and associates understand why disinformation is so dangerous and to share what they can do to defend against it. Such media literacy makes our community more resilient to falsehoods and manipulation.
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I’ve seen how powerful these conversations can be, through the monthly counter-disinformation workshops I’ve been facilitating through PEN America, a national nonprofit that promotes free expression in the United States and worldwide. These nonpartisan workshops have brought Phoenicians together from ages 15 through their 70s, from many cultures, tax brackets and political leanings. It’s good that we’ve had varied crowds, because, unfortunately, disinformation is a problem for all of us, no matter our political leanings.
If you feel your news diet is diverse, that you’re good at fact-checking, vetting sources and spotting disinformation, I invite you to share those tools with the people you think need them.
Does such a conversation sound stressful? I must confess, sometimes it can be. However, in most cases, these conversations are easier than we might presume.
Either way, they matter — now more than ever. Disinformation is a threat to democracy, and its spread over this election season comes during a perfect storm of conditions that have allowed it to proliferate. For instance, social media platforms have scaled back their content moderation programs, and aggressive legal and legislative pressure from politicians has put a chill on counter-disinformation research and coordination.
Many of us fear having awkward conversations with friends or associates when we know they’ve fallen prey to false information, but if we prepare by role-playing, we can make these exchanges more effective. I suggest finding a like-minded person who is also knowledgeable about disinformation, and then role-playing a conversation with them, wherein one person tries to get the other person to broaden their news diet. Then, switch roles so you can each practice. When we do this role-play even just one time, the preparation raises our likelihood of conversing about disinformation, and of the dialogue going well.
Disinformation is a threat to democracy, and its spread over this election season comes during a perfect storm of conditions that have allowed it to proliferate.
Through our follow-up surveys, we’ve seen that workshop attendees have been having such conversations, and that even if they’ve not changed someone’s mind in one conversation, they’ve opened them up to new habits and better consumption of information moving forward. We ask attendees to include the following in their dialogue.
Consider diversifying your news diet. Don’t rely on one or two outlets, particularly if that source confirms your biases. For accurate information, try news organizations led by teams of professional journalists, not influencers, commentators or activists. Mainstream media is a safe bet, regardless of attacks falsely calling it liberal media. No source is perfect, but mainstream outlets are more likely than partisan sources to produce factual, unbiased content.
Try a nonpartisan fact-checking tool, such as Snopes.com, FactCheck.org, or PolitiFact.com.
Share credible sources. If there’s a specific topic the person you’re thinking of has been misled on, such as election safety, climate change, etc., ask if you can share a news article with them on that topic. Your associate might not be ready to consume that credible source regularly, but reading a single article is a great start. (Be sure to do your own fact-checking ahead of time.)
To begin the conversation, you could share a time when you were misled by disinformation (it happens to all of us). Or, maybe share a situation in which you were inspired to change your mind on a topic.
I’ve had luck leading with, “I really care about you and respect your intelligence.” I’ve also found it useful to say, “I’m not trying to change your political leanings.” Perhaps lead the conversation with an issue you have in common. For instance, “I’ve noticed that we both care a lot about having safe elections.”
If you go in looking for a fight, you’ll find one, and no one wants that, but if you start with a loving heart and calm state of mind, it will help.
These conversations can be difficult, but if we don’t fight disinformation, who will? With political operatives and hostile foreign campaigns targeting Arizona and trying to mislead us, it’s more important than ever that we work together to fight disinformation, one conversation at a time.
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