Thanzyl Thajudeen
Let’s face it. We are in a chaotic age, crammed in between an ocean spread with knowledge and information, and a craze for all things artificially intelligent. One could certainly say that propagandas and disinformation today is so widespread like never before in the history of mankind, and this time around, it’s like the wolf in sheep’s clothing. The hypocrisy of the Western media, the growing waves of orientalism and racism, supremacy and fascism, and of course the continued dehumanization of people.
We see that trust in social media is on a steady decline despite its popularity and being the main source of news across many nations today. This is the same with traditional mainstream media as well. Statista reports that 51pct of global news consumers have seen fake news on television and 44pct have received fake news in print media.
Sadly, not everyone checks information before sharing it on their personal spaces. Misinformation and disinformation can be very deceitful and are very likely to spread far more rapidly than the truth, and as individuals who are part of the fabric of the society, we must all play a part in doing away with such falsehoods that can ultimately go onto destroy human values and ethics.
A recent Ipsos global survey found that over a two-third of its respondents citing that social media leads in fake news and that they have seen hate speech online. Though AI has its many benefits, we are seeing an unprecedented level of synthetically created content especially visuals that are quite often manipulative and fraudulent.
The real question is whether as individuals, are we employing critical thinking? Not everything you read should be believed in this era of new media, where many content are published without proper verification. Understand that a lot of anonymous sources or unattributed facts raise red flags. Understand the distinction between actual news and opinion or editorial content. Various media muddles the distinction between truth and opinion.
It’s common to find misinformation or disinformation by looking into a story’s origins. Examine the publication’s or media outlet’s familiarity and authenticity, the accuracy of the historical context, and the potential beneficiaries of the viewpoint. Verify further if there are any concerns raised by any of these inquiries.
Now as PR professionals who represent and counsel brands, organizations, institutions, groups, and other stakeholders, we have a moral obligation to uphold and adhere to an ethical framework and not resort to any actions that can actually contribute to the misinformation menace. Unfortunately, it’s quite obvious that various agendas, whether its commercial, social or political, do get help of PR professionals and the term of being ‘responsible’ is sometimes quite farfetched, often ignoring the consequences and life-lasting impact the campaigns or messaging could bring about. Respect moral principles when communicating. Steer clear of unintentionally disseminating false information, and fix any mistakes right away.
I’m not here to talk about how PR professionals can do away with such for brands, that’s just part and parcel of one’s daily routine such as continuous monitoring and interpreting early signs and patterns, planning for crisis and escalations using multiple scenarios, and drafting proactive rapid response strategies.
Rather, PR professionals should take a strong stand in this. Help improve media literacy by teaching the public how to recognise reliable sources and how to validate them, distribute correct information via a variety of platforms, stressing the value of fact-checking, promote media literacy programmes in communities, incorporate media literacy messages within their own practice and circles, and share real-world examples of misinformation and its consequences.
Ultimately, the goal of PR professionals in this regard should be to promote and foster and sustain a culture of questioning and critical thinking within societies and communities, and encourage individuals to be able to speak up, ask questions, seek additional reliable information, and consider multiple perspectives.
(The writer is a senior pr and communications expert. He is a Committee Member of CIPR International, a Board Member at PRCA APAC and a Council Member of PRCA, the world’s largest PR professional body)
