Will The Truth Will Set You Free?
- Lynn Chefren
- Oct 22, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 22, 2020
I feel our country is in the depths of an identity crisis. Facts are not always considered truth, and truth is not believed. The United States has seen crises before, and endured emerging stronger, more unified. I can only hope that is the path we find ourselves on now.
My parents raised me to understand that everyone is different. Everyone lives a different life, has different experiences, and those experiences shape their world view. Attorneys are trained to see both sides of a case - I can argue both sides of almost any issue.
What I see in our country now is an epidemic of one-sidedness. Individuals are entrenched in their own world view and think everyone who doesn't share that view is wrong. There is an unwillingness to see that a different view is that - different. It is not necessarily fundamentally untrue, it is a view shaped by a life lived differently.
I believe this bias is fueled by a modern abundance of information. More information is available now than at any time in history. You have instantaneous access to news, entertainment, and educational material. With the abundance of information, come those who choose to manipulate that information for their own uses. They hope their version of the truth will be believed in the overload of information bombarding individuals daily.
Spinning a news story to draw readers or to bolster an individual's own agenda is not new. The 1890s saw a battle between New York newspapers for readership, with publishing giants Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst using their newspapers as weapons.
Modern media is no different. Various outlets obviously support more liberal, left leaning agendas, while others are blatantly conservative and right-wing. There are those that strive to be independent, but sensationalism of the extremes draws more clicks, views, and likes.
There are dozens of studies underscoring how Americans tend to favor news sources that support their world view. In an era of spin, intentional misinformation, and deep fakes it can be hard to know what sources can be trusted.
Even when a piece of information has been proven to be false, it can remain available indefinitely and be believed more than the truth.
Chad Giron of the Brunswick Group explored this information paradox in Targeting Untruths. Giron offers a glimpse into the mammoth effort required to fight back against misinformation in the modern era. Simply stating the truth and putting it into the info sphere is not enough. We must act as champions for facts and the truth, regardless of our personal views.
A growing distrust of the published "truth" is fuel for conspiracy theories. The 2020 election is a prime example of the penetration of conspiracy theories into modern life with fringe groups like QAnon receiving constant news coverage. When interviewing Americans about the impact of conspiracy theories the 2020 election, TIME magazine found a large percentage were distrustful of mainstream news outlets' reporting, and after doing their own online research repeated false information from various conspiracy sources.
With abundant information at our fingertips it seems counter-intuitive that we need to double check that information. But if we don't slow down, think, and do a bit more research, we risk missing out on a vital part of a story. We risk not understanding the wider picture. We risk feeding only our view of the world, and not opening ourselves to a new, expansive, more inclusive world.
How do we fight back against intentional misinformation and half-truths? How do we encourage the sharing of true, factual, supported information and reporting?
The Verge published a fascinating guide on "How to fight lies, tricks, and chaos online". The News Literacy Project provides tools to help you "identify credible information, seek out reliable sources, and know what to trust, what to dismiss and what to debunk."
The internet is a brilliant invention. It can bring people together, provide entertainment, and support education. It also fuels divide, bias, and misinformation. Like Marie Curie's discovery of radioactivity - it has saved lives and taken lives. When used with caution and care, it is a tool of enormous possibility.
My goal with this blog is to offer facts and truth that may help readers and potential CLBC clients. I aspire to be a neutral party. My job is to be an advocate for CLBC's clients. To champion their cause and to present the facts. Not all facts are going to be in a client's favor. Those facts cannot be ignored, they cannot be explained away with a conspiracy theory. In my opinion, they should not be "spun," they must be addressed directly.
However, presenting the facts, championing the truth doesn't always lead to the outcomes we hope. Perhaps it can be traced back to the dawn of the 20th century, when there was a shift in legal strategy. No longer was the truth enough for a conviction or defense. Defense attorneys' focus shifted the jury, witnesses, and even the victims. It was a new era, when information was used as a tool, and spinning the information made the tool more effective.
The modern era has seen the rough tool of information become a lethal weapon, barbed with half truths and innuendo, powered by a 24/7 news cycle, social media, and information overload.
I encourage you to continue to educate yourself, to seek out new information, to champion the facts.
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