DEFEND DEMOCRACY: BE VOTER READY
With the 2024 election looming, there is an uptick in mis- and dis-information on many news platforms, from social to legacy media. It’s hard to know what is true and what is not. Sometimes it’s hard to accept what is true and what is not. It is important that you, as a voter, become “news literate” – to recognize “news” or media sources that are not trustworthy or credible and then expand your critical thinking skills to get the facts you need to make informed decisions.
The magnitude of the problem cannot be underestimated. As early at 2016 research by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) issued a warning that “massive digital misinformation is becoming pervasive in online social media to the extent that it has been listed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as one of the main threats to our society”. See full report.
Recent reports highlight how pervasive the problem is:
Example of foreign disinformation, read NYTimes article.
World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2024 Highlights: disinformation is considered to be the world's top risk in the next two years, and the fifth global risk in the next ten years. View document here.
Leagues throughout the country have been at the forefront of calling attention to this threat by collecting research and resources to counter mis- and dis-information. The League of Women Voters Larimer County developed an informative program to increase news literacy. Their goal is to ensure that every citizen can judge the credibility or trustworthiness of news and to recognize misinformation and disinformation. They identified a range of resources from tools for adults and teens on fact checking, to a video from Fort Lewis College professor and researcher, Dr. Justin McBrayer, titled "Fake News Marketplace: How it Works and Why it Matters". Read more here.
As a final reminder, Vote411 is a trusted source for non-partisan, factual information on specific candidates and ballot issues.
Now is the time to get together with your family and friends to look closely at the news you consume each day. Question what is fact and what is not. It’s the only way to make decisions that will truly impact your lives, your city, county, state and the country for generations to come.