Political rumors, full of sound and fury, fly fast online

Chicago Tribune by Bob Secter | Oct. 17, 2008 (News Analysis)

Have you read the e-mail from the psychologist who detailed how her South Pacific vacation was ruined by an encounter with a boorish, racist John McCain?

Surely your inbox has been clogged with those exposes about Barack Obama's secret life as a radical Muslim who won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance? And how about Sarah Palin posing with a rifle in a U.S. flag bikini and claiming her daughter's baby as her own?

Malarkey all. Yet people ... Full Story »

Posted by Fabrice Florin

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Fabrice Florin
3.6
 by Fabrice Florin - Oct. 17, 2008

Thoughtful article about how the Internet helps spread political muck. The author presents good factual examples of this problem, as well as multiple independent sources that explain how 'rumor psychology' works -- and its impact on our culure. The story includes a section about NewsTrust, and its focus on sorting out fact from fiction. [Disclosure: I head NewsTrust and am interviewed in this article]

Fabrice Florin, executive director of California-based News Trust, said the Internet has led to such a “tsunami of information” that it has become increasingly difficult to sort out well-researched fact from foolishness. “We’re dealing with a real issue in democracy,” said Florin, whose non-profit group is dedicated to promoting well-researched journalism. “We’re not good at taking other people’s perspectives into consideration. We’ve gotten ourselves into a mess because we failed to articulate clear values for what it means to be a good citizen and be fair and have a focus on facts.”

As interviewee in this part of this story, I can vouch that it is accurate and captures the spirit of what we discussed over the phone. A link to our site would make sense here, so people could see what we do to address this issue.

Disclosure: Fabrice is involved in this story as the subject (review not included in overall rating). Help
Fabrice posted this story.

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