A Swamp for Misinformation & Disinformation
INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.
Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed David Dozier who is a leading media authority.
Misinformation is wrong facts shared without malice. Disinformation is lying; using known false information to manipulate others. Legacy print and broadcast media operate much like an hourglass. Millions of events, issues and crises occur daily. True fact, misinformation, and disinformation swirl in the top tapered bulb. Reporters and editors work at the narrow neck in the middle. They sift through facts, misinformation and disinformation; check it all for accuracy; format it; rank it; and distribute it as news to consumers in the bottom bulb. Legacy media differ politically; they appeal to different audiences. With notable exceptions, however, legacy journalists are professionals dedicated to finding and reporting the truth. Social media has shattered the hourglass model. Structurally, social media is built like an expanding spider web. Anyone connected to social media can “publish news.” Few people are ever held accountable when they post misinformation and disinformation that causes harm. Largely unregulated, social media pursue one goal: maximize profits. These behemoths have no regulatory incentive to clean up this mess of their own creation. Under Section 230 of FCC rules, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and others are not regarded as “publishers” of the misinformation and disinformation they sell. One cannot sue these behemoth social media corporations for libel or creating “a clear and present danger” for life and property. Social media corporations argue that social media is like a telephone. For example, one robber can call another robber on the phone to coordinate a bank robbery. The phone company has no liability. But social media is nothing like the telephone. Social media algorithms group certain like-minded people together. For example, social media helped organize insurrectionists who attacked the capitol on Jan. 6. Current research shows that the wonderful world of social media, as promised by its investors, was a moneymaking scam. Social media does not foster communication among people sharing different viewpoints. Rather, users form echo chambers where they talk to people with whom they already agree. They bounce false information around the chamber. The confirmation bias of others in the chamber reinforces a person’s innate confirmation bias. Since echo chambers seal themselves off from differing viewpoints, each echo chamber becomes highly polarized. Misinformation and disinformation are regarded as facts within echo chambers. Rational discourse requires basic agreement on what the facts are. The meaning and implications of those facts provide fertile soil for democratic debate to bloom. There are at least two limits on free expression: libel and “clear and present danger. Adjusting Section 320 with clear, step-by-step reforms would change the profit incentive for social media corporations. If sued for libel or creating a clear and present danger, social media corporations could show how they have mitigated adverse outcomes of the unedited content they sell. Sharing fiscal burdens with other defendants would provide ideal motivation. If social media corporations were held fiscally accountable for the damage they do, they would figure out how to fix it. (DavidDozierBooks.com).
The Price of Business is one of the longest running shows of its kind in the country and is in markets coast to coast. The Host, Kevin Price, is a multi-award winning author, broadcast journalist, and syndicated columnist. He is Editor at Large for this site. Learn more about the show and its digital partners at www.PriceofBusiness.com.
David Dozier (DavidDozierBooks.com) is the author of the novel, The California Killing Field. He is a professor emeritus in the School of Journalism & Media Studies, San Diego State University. He’s an internationally recognized expert on communication management and public relations.
According to USA Business Radio, “David Dozier is a scholar of public relations and communication management, professor emeritus in the School of Journalism & Media Studies at San Diego State University, and author of The California Killing Field. He says fake news has become a phenomenon, political campaigns use the tactic to influence voters, and that it’s perplexing that a conspiracy-based group such as QAnon has gained national attention.
Kevin Price and David Dozier are doing a multi-part series on this important topic that will be on many different platforms, as well as on radio. Keep an eye out for the series throughout the Price of Business Digital Network and USA Business Radio.
Check out more national news stories here.
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN ITS ENTIRETY HERE
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