{"id":1312,"date":"2017-03-24T09:32:42","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T09:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.factcheckni.org\/?p=1312"},"modified":"2022-02-27T17:28:09","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T17:28:09","slug":"living-post-truth-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/articles\/news\/living-post-truth-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Are we living in a post-truth democracy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A #DemocracyDay talk by Bill ADAIR at the Imagine Belfast Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Eilish BOSCHERT for FactCheckNI (24 March 2017<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bill ADAIR (Duke University). Bill ADAIR talk event, Democracy Day, Imagine Belfast Festival, Ulster University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. (c) Kevin Cooper Photoline NUJ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hosted by FactCheck NI<\/a> as part of Imagine Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics<\/a>, Bill Adair<\/a> presented his lecture \u2018Are We Living in a Post-Truth Democracy?\u2019 at the Conor Lecture Theatre at Ulster University on Friday, March 24th.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening the event by discussing the necessity of fact-checking organisations, especially in the current technological society, Enda Young<\/a> introduced Adair — founder of Pulitzer Prize-winning website Politifact<\/a>, which made fact checking mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact checking increases the reliability of information that reaches mass audiences, contributing to a deliberative democracy \u2013 focusing on the role of citizens and their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by the claims of U.S. politicians that were seldom verified, Adair began Polifact ten years ago as part of the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times). Politifact\u2019s six, simple ratings \u2013 True, Mostly True, Half-True, Mostly False, False, and Pants-on-Fire \u2013 make the content of the site accessible and understandable for any audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe information age,\u201d Adair stated, \u201cis also the age of disinformation.\u201d With the rise in technology, the world has received access to information like never before; however, the internet has become a great way to spread inaccuracies and isolate ourselves from opposing information as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, falsehoods spread. As Adair pointed out, Donald Trump\u2019s false-claim tweets are quoted on television twice as often as other tweets, and are retweeted more frequently. This is not a uniquely American phenomenon — untruths can be found anywhere in political discourse; the difference can be found in the ways in which messages are circulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, mainstream news organisations served as a reliable filter for falsehoods. Despite their limited perspectives, the information transmitted to household audiences by the media was factually accurate. Now, the internet provides people with the same \u201ccockamamy\u201d ideas with a platform and a voice. This creates the illusion that these groups have validity and support. There are fewer filters that separate misinformation from fact, enabling partisan media with a megaphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The structured nature of the Politifact also keeps scores or \u2018report cards\u2019 of the politicians on which they report, allowing them to track their campaign promises on a state and local level. Adair was quick to acknowledge that Politifact is first and foremost journalism, not social science; however, journalism often follows the \u201cfood fight\u201d between political parties and allows actual policy to fall by the wayside. Politifact follows-up with politician\u2019s claims and promises, creating substantive journalism about policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politifact has encouraged fact seekers across the globe, inspiring dozens of sites that collaborate to report responsibly. 2016\u2019s presidential election provoked record traffic on politifact.com, yet partisan divide plagues the fact-checking community, preventing them from reaching a large percentage of the electorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general distrust of mainstream media by conservatives has tarnished the name of good, objective news organisations. And the rise of social media facilitates confirmation bias on all sides of the political spectrum, creating easy access to information that is desired, but not necessarily accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this season of information overload, Adair maintains hope. He does not believe that we are living in a post-truth era \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019re actually living in the era of the fact checker!\u201d There has been a great momentum toward fact checking in recent years, which he hopes will create a turning point where fact checkers can spread the truth to wider audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to overcome confirmation bias, Adair recommended objective news sites as the foundation of your \u2018information diet\u2019. Next is news that has perspective, but not bias. This is followed by opinion pieces that you agree with. Finally, it is important to read columnists with whom you do not agree. His most important word of advice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t rely on social media to get your news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIDEO<\/p>\n\n\n\n