Pre-Bunking: A Partial Antidote for Misinformation
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.
It’s hard to debunk information that we feel is true. That’s due to our confirmation biases. After all, if new information “fits” with our preconceived notions of what’s true, why reject it? But what if that information is partially or totally false? Dr. Sander van der Linden and colleagues at Cambridge University’s Social Decision-Making Lab invented an online game called “Bad News.” You can play the game at: https://www.getbadnews.com/books/english/ Dr. van der Linden was featured on “60 Minutes:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RmxeZHPeHg The game’s goal is to provide players with psychological inoculation against misinformation. To do so, the game takes players “behind the scenes” to act as social media scammers. The game shows players how scammers are able to fabricate social media posts that go viral. Techniques include impersonation, polarization, discredit, emotions, conspiracy and trolling. Dr. van der Laden ran a series of experiments to evaluate the game’s effectiveness. Playing “Bad News” significantly reduced the effects of misinformation on game players, compared to people who did not play the game. The effect sizes were small, but “Bad News” only takes a few minutes to play. Longer and more interactive versions of “Bad News” (using video clips) would logically increase the positive impact on digital media literacy (see http://www.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.
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LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN ITS ENTIRETY HERE
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