In 2024 half of the worlds population will be affected by the outcomes of elections. A key value underpinning free and fair elections is the availability of accurate information for voters. However, in recent years, fears of misinformation, infodemics and even an epistemic apocalypse have led many to question whether our current information environment is fit for purpose. We recently caught up with LSE’s Nick Anstead to discuss, misinformation in the context of the UK’s general election and have brought together a selection of posts from the LSE Impact Blog’s archives exploring the impact of misinformation and the extent to which the concept itself is a useful way of understanding how evidence is used and abused in the media.
Misinformation has been a prominent paradigm in the explanation of social, political, and more recently epidemiological phenomena since the middle of the last decade. However, Daniel Williams argues that a focus on misinformation is limiting when used to explain these phenomena. Primarily, as it distracts us from more important ways in which information can be misleading, and it overlooks the social dynamics of competition involved in information marketplaces that produce effective rationalisations of the favoured narratives of different social groups.
What the deep history of deepfakes tells us about trust in images
The ability to manipulate and generate images with new technologies presents challenges to traditional media reporting and scholarly communication. However, as Joshua Habgood-Coote discusses, the history of fake images shows that rather than heralding a mass breakdown in trust, technological innovations have fed into ongoing social problems around the production of knowledge.
Proper citation of research by journalists is necessary for more trustworthy news
Based on a study of how research is cited in national and local media sources, Andy Tattersall shows how research is often poorly represented in the media and suggests better community standards around linking to original research could improve trust in mainstream media.
Addressing misinformation at source – Why I choose to appear on GB News
Reflecting on his appearances on the GB News channel to discuss issues relating to climate policy, Bob Ward argues that research communicators should engage in spaces where opposing views hold a monopoly.
Book Review: Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History by Andie Tucher
In Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History, Andie Tucher explores how journalistic practice has often pivoted on disinformation throughout US history. This is a first-rate study that will give readers a greater understanding of the origins, role and impact of fake news in the past and present, writes Jeff Roquen.
Storylistening: why narrative evidence matters for public reasoning and how to use it
As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated narratives, qualitative or quantitative, can shape, guide and make sense of public policies. However, the way in which the listeners and readers of these narratives receive and engage with them is often taken as a given. By introducing the concept of storylistening, Claire Craig and Sarah Dillon outline how different narratives can contribute to and enhance the use of evidence in policymaking and present a framework for how qualitative and humanistic research can play a key role in this process.
Do scientists need to be ‘relatable’ for the public to trust their role in policymaking?
Social media and a rolling news cycle have led to significant increase in and diversification of the types experts and expertise circulating in the public sphere. It has also introduced media dynamics into the production of knowledge. Drawing on the findings of new report, Christina Boswell and Molly Morgan Jones, suggest that the link between trust and relatability is important to good science communication.
Have we really had enough of experts – What evidence is there for public attitudes towards experts?
Following the Brexit vote and US presidential elections in 2016, it has frequently been argued that the current period is defined by a lack of trust in experts and expertise. But is there any empirical evidence to confirm or deny this assertion? In this post Kate Dommett and Warren Pearce analyse the available data on public perceptions of expertise and argue that ultimately we cannot categorically state how the public perceive experts. However, we can and should analyse the increasingly diverse forms of expertise that exist in contemporary society.
Should a TV drama influence public policy?
ITV’s primetime drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office hastened legislation to compensate sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal, overturning the judicial process after years of legal wrangling. Joseph Owen asks whether it is desirable for narratives to have such influence on the judiciary and democracy? And if so, in a year when forty million citizens are expected to head to the polls globally, whether we should pay greater attention to what stories are being told and who is listening to them.
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