Check Your Sh*t: News, Opinion, & Propaganda
In the wake of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black Americans, social media has become an invaluable tool for sharing information, grassroots organizing, and demonstrating widespread support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Traditional media outlets have been eclipsed by social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to quickly share unfiltered information about protests, gatherings, organizations, and potential dangers.
However, the fast-paced circulation of information often results in us liking and reposting stories before we’ve researched the issues and double-checked the facts. No matter how tech-savvy or active you are on social media, you’re still susceptible to sharing false, harmfully biased information, or even fake news–something that I have been guilty of in the past. We must take it upon ourselves to develop a critical eye for distinguishing between news, opinions, and propaganda and further conduct our own research beyond what we see on our social media feeds.
It may seem juvenile to revisit the differences between news, opinion, and propaganda, but, in the era of fake news, these are distinctions worth knowing now more than ever. As Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor for the New York Times, says in his interview titled “How to Write an Editorial,” “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You’re not entitled to your own facts.” News is the information we get from established journalistic sources. News outlets are defined by a prioritization of truthfulness, accuracy, independence, and accountability over biases. Quality journalistic sources clearly link back to the original information and provide further details about the author’s journalistic credentials.
Opinion articles, however, use facts from news sources to inform a distinct point of view. Although opinion pieces, also referred to as op-eds and editorials, often utilize emotion to argue for a distinct stance on a particular issue, good op-eds remain rooted in fact and continuously reference evidence throughout. Opinion pieces will typically only present one side of an argument and emphasize facts that support their opinion.
Propaganda differs from both news and opinion pieces in that propaganda employs emotion and bias as its primary driver. Propaganda capitalizes on a group’s pre-existing concerns and beliefs by activating strong emotions while simplifying complex issues or information. Many forms of propaganda rely on factual cherry-picked data or biased, unsubstantiated information in order to support their points. Some forms of propaganda use real news, yet distort or withhold the original source’s meaning, while others rely on fake news: sensationalized false news stories meant to discredit an individual, movement, or company. Fake news also includes disinformation, the intentional distribution of false information in order to influence an opinion or obscure truth.
Propaganda ultimately targets a group’s insecurities and fears and steers them towards adapting an agenda, leading readers to believe that an opinion is truth. Propaganda can be particularly difficult to recognize or challenge when you agree with the underlying sentiment, also known as confirmation bias; it is easy to identify bias when you disagree with the message.
While the difference between news, opinion, and propaganda appear reasonably clear when explained, the lines between the three are blurred over social media. A post’s sources and original message are lost as countless reposts and revised captions alter its original meaning. As we continue to elevate Black voices, stories, and organizations, it is imperative that we are able to recognize false or misleading information that detracts from the movement’s success–both on social media and off–by looking out for indicators of potential disinformation and misinformation. Here are a few things to keep in mind when reposting on social media:
1) Be Wary of Colorful Graphics
Graphic designers and artists alike are taking to Instagram and using their talents in pursuit of spreading social awareness. However, aesthetic appeal can distract the viewer from any misinformation embedded in the post’s content. For example, last week I saw a clothing brand repost a neon, bubble lettered square reading “Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter” from a digital artist’s account. The brand’s head of social media later explained that she had not previously understood the difference between the two statements but was informed that the All Lives Matter movement detracts from the attention that the Black Lives Matter movement deserves. Aesthetically pleasing and trendy text posts create a strong visual allure for most users, yet design does not automatically denote any form of factual legitimacy. If you find a graphic you deem interesting and worth reposting, it is best to do a quick search of the post’s content and further search for any immediate biases.
2) Examine Word Choice
A post’s hidden word choice is more often than not the first indicator of bias and opinion. For example, words that indicate the post is rooted in opinion include charged adjectives such as: bad, worse, worst, good, better etc. Reading a statement that claims that something is the “best solution” or the “worst problem” appears purposefully vague and can be used as a tool to express one’s own opinion while avoiding providing further information or supporting facts. In addition to examining a post’s adjectives, it is also important to keep an eye out for dog whistles, inherently political phrases or names that have an embedded meaning meant to target a certain group. For example, referring to former President Barack Obama as “Barack Hussein Obama,” can be a dog whistle in some contexts meant to allude to the debunked conspiracy theory that he is Muslim; he is referred to by his full name occasionally in the context of an article or post’s anti-Muslim sentiments, thus heightening preexisting fears among already-prejudiced readers.
3) Identify Name Calling and Inflammatory Language
If a post’s content involves name-calling or asks calculated, inflammatory questions, it most certainly contains bias in favor of or against a certain group, teetering on defamatory propaganda. Assigning a catchy or provoking name to a specific group is an easy way for the post’s author to ensure that their reader remembers the label without having to know much about the group itself. For example, a label like “hypocritical protestors” automatically renders the reader uninterested in further researching a group that allegedly does not practice what it preaches. The adjective “hypocritical” in this label is referred to as a “virtue word,” and gives the reader all of the information they believe they need in order to form a decisive opinion about a group of people. Inflammatory questions further provoke the reader into adopting a specific attitude through intimidation. Questions phrased like, “Do you really think that…?” or “Why would you choose to…?” indicate a clear bias and agenda on the author’s behalf.
4) Practice Lateral Reading
After you have analyzed the language, content, and phrasing within a post or article, it is crucial to take your research beyond social media platforms and practice lateral reading as you do so. Lateral reading is a strategy used by fact checkers to quickly gather information from multiple sources and evaluate a topic’s validity without dwelling on one particular source. Instead of reading vertically, or carefully picking apart every detail in one article by scrolling down, fact checkers read laterally. This means that they find a piece of information within the first article that leads them to do a separate search on that detail. They repeat this same strategy until they feel they have a holistic view of the subject, the author, the author’s background, and other sub-topics associated with the larger work. Lateral reading gives us, the researchers, the ability to defy the limits of one article and its potential biases, hidden ties, or purposefully undisclosed information.
5) Investigate the Domain / URL
As you begin to skim articles and open new tabs, it’s important to look at the website’s domain and name. According to NPR’s article titled “Fake or Real? How To Self-Check The News And Get The Facts,” a “.com” is reason enough for skepticism, even if the site’s name or logo presents an air of professionalism. Even a “.org” domain can be purchased by any individual and does not require that the site owner disclose that they are working for social betterment. “.Gov” and “.Edu” tend to be more reputable sources, but we should still look into the website’s specific affiliation with the government (and what government at that), as well as the quality of the educational institution’s department or field of study. While a “.com” or “.org” domain should not immediately discredit a website, it should be an indicator that we should continue searching for supporting information that proves the site’s factual or organizational legitimacy.
6) Explore the “About” Section
Reading a website’s “About” section is crucial for understanding the site’s mission and motives. The about section should include any authors, researchers, or founders of the site. From there, you can research the individuals behind the information and craft a more comprehensive understanding of their educational and professional backgrounds. Most importantly, from this additional search you’ll be able to identify any other corporate, political, organizational affiliations associated with an individual and their website. Then, you’ll have a greater understanding of a website’s agenda and maintain a conscious awareness of any ulterior motives or allegiances behind their information.
While most social media platforms provide us with endless fast facts and entertainment, taking the time to dissect your feed and analyze your sources helps ensure that you are not confusing fact, opinion, and propaganda, or aiding in the distribution of fake news. Any platform, regardless of its follower count, is a valuable one and is used to shape others’ perception of reality and current events. Although additional research adds more time and effort to your daily Instagram or Twitter scroll, the consequences of accidentally sharing misinformation bears much heftier consequences. Your posts can affect a person’s long-standing opinion on a subject and influence if and how they vote; once formed, these opinions and understandings are very difficult to change. Thorough and analytical social media consumption is a responsibility we all share together as we aim to uphold informational and social integrity.
Sources:
Stanford History Education Group - Sort Fact From Fiction Online With Lateral ReadingNew York Times - How to Write an Editorial
Pressbooks - What “Reading Laterally” Means
Pressbooks - What Makes a Trustworthy News Source
NPR - Fake Or Real? How to Self-Check The News And Get The Facts
The University of Vermont - Propaganda Techniques to Recognize
Media Education Lab - What is Propaganda?
Montgomery College - Fact vs. Opinion
New York Times - Tips for Aspiring Op-Ed Writers
New York Times - Alt-Right, Alt-Left, Antifa: A Glossary of Extremist Language
News Literacy Project - Distinguishing Among News, Opinion and Propaganda
