This past week it became evident that we needed to purchase a new oven range. In the past, we had maintained a paid subscription to Consumer Reports, and we would rely on their descriptions, ratings, and rankings on products before making a purchase. However, after purchasing three major appliances that had received top ratings but proved to be less than stellar, we cancelled our subscription. Consumer Reports lost their credibility. So, last year we purchased a microwave without Consumer Reports. We did the leg work of considering each model’s brand reputation, reading the specs, consulting salespeople and customer reviews, and closely examining all the features of each model in person. Unlike the Consumer Reports recommended washer and dryer and dishwasher we purchased; we are 100% happy with the microwave we chose without its help. And so, we again followed the microwave method this week and on Friday purchased a lovely oven range that has incredible features that we are confident will meet our needs. But here’s the thing, in a busy and complicated world, it’s helpful to have credible information sources to rely on for good decision making. But like Consumer Reports, many previously reliable sources have loss credibility. The difference is that many have lost their credibility because they are under attack, not because they have failed to deliver.
Certain sectors have lacked credibility for a long time. Few people trust a used car salesman. Perhaps even fewer trust the advertisements of large corporations. And fewer than that trust politicians. Most of us realize that the greedy self-interest of these parties creates their credibility problems. We recognize their bait and switch tactics, their obvious lack integrity, and their long record of failing to deliver. It’s our common knowledge of these shortcomings that has provided us some protection. Their lack of credibility is attached to their consistently poor performance record. However, many Americans today are questioning the credibility of important information sources based on the narrative of a few bad actors rather than actual merit.
In just a few short years, Donald Trump, Rupert Murdock, and their Republican allies managed to destroy the credibility of sources in our lives that we have historically relied on for vital information. Using the cult of personality, the public’s lack of critical thinking skills, and exploiting institutional weaknesses, they infiltrated the television and radio airways and used the internet and social media to strategically sow doubt and confusion about the information coming from previously credible institutions that provided us with news, history, science, and health information.
Without hesitation, they took every opportunity to characterize scientists and health professionals as liars when they rightly needed to revise previous statements with evolving or new information on a topic. They used minor mistakes in journalism to characterize mainstream news media outlets as purveyors of “fake news”, ignoring the many corrections and updates. They manufactured false accusations against their enemies without evidence, calling democrats pedophiles, socialists, or communists and President Biden senile. They exaggerated basic lessons in human sexuality, American history, and science to characterize schools and teachers as evil masterminds who are corrupting children’s minds. They mischaracterized a prayerful knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality to be un-American.
These days, many Americans have ceased to trust the news, the science, the teachers, the researchers, and even worse, our public health officials. The proliferation of lies and omissions, conspiracies, deflections and misinformation directed toward a largely uneducated and gullible general public in this country has not only wreaked havoc on civil discourse but has cost people their lives due to COVID-19 and has stressed our medical system.
When I listen to the Washington Journal public forum on C-Span early each morning, I am both amazed and disheartened by the people who call in to repeat conspiracy theories, disproven lies, and their own feelings of hatred and distrust of the government, science, the news, and public health officials. When asked where they get their information, they often cite the internet, their own research (whatever that means), or they won’t admit to the obvious source, Fox News political pundits. The moderators are careful not to scold the viewers who call in spouting nonsense; they leave that task to other viewers. I admit that it is often frustrating, but it demonstrates a couple of things important observations about what we must do as individuals who desire to preserve our sources of credible information.
There are seven things we must do: 1) We must protect our schools and teachers by showing up to school board meetings and PTS meetings so that we can support the efforts to teach basic American civics, history, science, and critical thinking in K-12. 2) We must financially support investigative journalism with paid newspaper subscriptions and only watch actual news reporting on television, not the hours of commentary about the news. 3) We need to label our own protestations as either opinion, speculation or fact while asking our friends to do the same. 4) We need to remind our children and each other that new information rightfully leads to a modification in recommendations and actions and does not mean we were lied to. 5) We need to gently remind our religious brothers and sisters that when they insist that their religious beliefs become law, they are inviting a theocracy no different from the Taliban. 6) We need to expose the nature of cults and cult leaders. 7) We need to remind ourselves and encourage others to allow our reason to temper our emotions.
As a community of friends and family, we have a duty to help each other return credibility to sectors of our society who have had their credibility stripped away by nefarious actors hell-bent on causing confusion and distress so that they can rule with impunity and unfettered power. Credibility is earned and sustained, not by perfection, but by integrity and the delivery of reliable information over time. It should never be given nor removed on the basis of mere accusations by a charismatic personality whether that personality occupies the White House, is on television, or is heard on the radio.