The way to help journalism within the struggle in opposition to misinformation

  • Caroline Friedman Levy, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, researcher, and policy specialist who focuses on the application of behavioral science in the implementation of evidence-based guidelines.
  • Matthew Facciani, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Medicine, Health and Society.

Rumors and lies have been shared since the speech began and have shaped traditional print and broadcast media since their inception. Thanks to digital technology, misinformation can spread at lightning speed and with unlimited reach, posing an extraordinary threat to the public and our democratic institutions.

While foreign-born disinformation has been tackled through federal government-funded programs, there has been no policy response to dangerous misinformation that may or may not be foreign in origin, may or may not have been deliberately designed, and is essentially disseminated by domestic social media consumers.

To counter this self-drawn threat, federal oversight must address opportunistic practices that have hampered legitimate news organizations and disrupted Americans’ ability to distinguish fact from fiction.

Here are some recommendations to help you solve the problem

Misinformation thrives in a news landscape where legitimate journalism, especially local journalism, stands on economically shaky ground. In an extension of a long-term trend, 36,000 journalists in the US have lost their jobs, been on leave or cut their wages since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

While the demand for news and information is arguably stronger than ever and digital platforms like Google and Facebook are generating a robust and steadily growing share of advertising revenue, journalistic media are competing for crumbs. In order for Americans to continue having access to fact-based journalism, an ecosystem in which consumers are increasingly reliant on social media for news must be comprehensively reassessed so that digital platforms receive economic rewards while legitimate news sources struggle to survive.

To address this disruption, antitrust measures related to digital platforms can be used to ensure news sites receive reimbursement for journalism shared on social media. Conversely, legal scholars have proposed creating a temporary safe haven in antitrust law that would allow news publishers to work with platforms to negotiate pricing terms for the use of news content. Indeed, there is strong bipartisan support for this latter option through a recent bill, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, designed to “help local newspapers survive amid massive layoffs”.

Other proposals include imposing a tax on digital services on major news sharing platforms to create a vibrant public funding model in support of journalism of local and public interest, and using tax incentives to help the troubled news outlets transition into one Encourage charitable status.

While these approaches raise challenging questions about which news agencies are “legitimate” and warrant support, policy makers can rely on existing models for authenticating news sites that are dedicated to the public interest.

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Media literacy benefits citizens and a democratic society

In a healthy information landscape, media consumers would be equipped with skills to help them distinguish fact from fiction. However, digital platforms have made sporadic efforts to incorporate validated interventions that foster these skills.

Matthew Facciani

And, too often, media literacy education has been shared with just a few K-12 classrooms, missing out on the older adults most vulnerable to digital scams and misinformation. Political decision-makers can also use federal oversight to ensure that digital platforms integrate validated tools for media literacy into their platforms as a basic service and expectation for all users.

Local and legitimate news sites are vital to keeping our voluntary state communities and our republic strong. If we hope that Americans live in a real-life information landscape, we need policymakers to ensure that journalism not only survives but thrives amid the giants of the digital platform.

Caroline Friedman Levy, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, researcher, and policy specialist who focuses on the application of behavioral science in the implementation of evidence-based guidelines. She has served as a Policy Fellow at the UK Department of Education and is currently a participating researcher for research and policy collaboration at Pennsylvania State University.

Matthew Facciani, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Medicine, Health and Society. He received a BA in Psychology from Westminster College and an MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of South Carolina. His areas of research include LGBTQ health, social networks, political polarization, and misinformation. Facciani is also interested in evidence-based policy and works with the Research-to-Policy Collaboration at Pennsylvania State University.

Vanderbilt University’s project on Unity and American Democracy aims to deepen the discourse on the concept of national unity and find ways to foster better understanding across the political divide by working with business leaders, religious leaders and voices from the city and country is cooperated. This comment is an abbreviated part of an essay that will soon be published on his website: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/unity/who-we-are/.

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