POST-TRUTH AND MISINFORMATION

One of the most devastating and damaging effects of misinformation, propaganda, and fake news is the GENERAL DISTRUST. It is widespread in almost all social spheres and may refer not only to the media and journalists, but also to the political parties, institutions, experts, NGOs and, ultimately, the DISTRUST OF ALL INFORMATION. This effect of extreme skepticism and widespread distrust can have extremely detrimental consequences for society and its normal functioning. 

We all know the story of the shepherd who once played with his fellow villagers shouting a wolf, a wolf. The villagers who ran to help realized that the boy was joking with them. But when the wolf really attacked the shepherd’s flock, his cries for help were fruitless, no one trusted him anymore. When the desperate shepherd asked the villagers why they had not helped him, they replied: “No one trusts the liar, even when he’s telling the truth.” Today, in the so-called post-truth and misinformation wars era, we all feel a little like the peasants in this story; suspicious, skeptical, and lacking trust that someone really speaks the truth and cares about it. Everyone claims that everyone else is a liar, everyone accuses each other of being manipulators, and our most common reaction is to exclude ourselves from such quarrels and not to trust anyone.

According to the latest available survey data, “less than 15% of respondents in North Macedonia have full confidence in the journalists”, while 50.4% believe that the media is completely dependent on other centers of power (IPSOS, November 2018). A high percentage of them believe that the media spreads misinformation, i.e. the social networks with 43.7% and televisions with 38.7% of the respondents. “Only the police and the education enjoy the trust of half the citizens, while all other institutions have the trust of less than 40 percent of respondents. The lowest is trust in the judiciary, then in the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, Health, Market Inspection and the Prosecutor’s Office ”(ibid.). According to the trends, these numbers of confidence are declining, and the majority of the citizens who do not trust the media and institutions are increasing. We live in a confused reality without authority and trust. Misinformation is a key factor in this process. 

Trust is one of the essential categories for the normal functioning of any community, and when it becomes disrupted, it begins to decompose itself and the community. In our country, since misinformation has become conventionalized as a “normal” and permitted means (or weapon) for political struggle, the term “fake news” has become highly politicized and has become part of the usual vocabulary of the politicians and the political parties. And of course, with the widespread use of everything possible, wether needed or not, the notion has gradually become empty of meaning. Both the government and the opposition accuse each other of using fake news against each other. The government announces an action plan to combat misinformation, the ruling parties accuse the opposition of spreading fake news, and the opposition responds with accusations that the government is using fake news to attack the opposition. In such a high politicization of misinformation, it becomes very difficult to separate facts from fake and inaccurate information. 

Such confusing and complex situations, through the loss of trust in the sources of information, whatever they might be, prompts people to look for alternative ways of gathering information. Sometimes it is the relatives or friends in the social networks we trust, sometimes it is the influencers towards which we have little critical attitude, sometimes it is the conspiracy theories that give us a feeling of a sense of the world that we hardly understand. The rise of the flat-earth theories, anti-vaccine theories, various global or local conspiracy theories, is a consequence of this very process of growing distrust in the system, institutions, and science. Right here lies the threshold of our penetration into the dark dimension of the post-truth, that is, the moment we accept that it doesn’t matter what is a fact, information or truth, but we accept whatever works and helps us to pursue an interest or a goal in the revved world in which we live. 

The questioning of the credibility of information as a whole, hangs over all spheres of our lives as a dark cloud. Although misinformation and fake news have always existed in one form or another, today with the breakthrough of communication technologies in all pores of our lives, misinformation is becoming more dangerous and harmful. They cause not only political dysfunction but become a serious obstruction to normal daily socialization and communication. Fragmented and atomized societies are weak societies where citizens themselves suffer the most. 

No matter how numerous the sources of information from hundreds of portals, posts and social media profiles, to alternative media, streaming services, YouTube channels and online television, yet professional media, responsible journalists with highly developed ethics, as well as facts verification and detecting misinformation services, are needed more than ever. They are key players in restoring confidence, first and foremost, in the information and they can survive in today’s media system and the surface in this turbulent ocean of information through which we sail. 

As much as the filtering of information in the classical media has been compromised, we still need some filters today. Filters that separate the trash misinformation with the right information. After losing trust in the media, we have gave in solely on the filters of what our friends and those who consider similar to us support, as well as the filters that serve our social network algorithms. In both cases this leads to closure in our own confined and closed world, in which we do not want to be disturbed by anything that is different from us. Such closure leads to an increase in intolerance, polarization and conflicts. Information, rather than expanding our world and knowledge of it, actually puts us in cells of our own confinement and we become “useful idiots” (V.I. Lenin’s term) for the interests of those who create and support polarizing campaigns and content.

The first step towards restoring confidence in information must be taken by the media and journalists themselves. This necessarily involves giving up on various manipulations to short-term attracting of audiences and sponsors, and dedication to developing a long-term trust by the users and the public.

Sead Dzigal