Politicians and Media and Conspiracy Theories
Blanket statements and half truths create fertile ground for conspiracy theorists
They say we live in the information age. For the first time in history, there are more scientific studies than there are theories, which is completely the other way around to how it used to be.
There is more information that needs theories than in the past, where scientists first propogated theories and then collected the information to substantiate or negate the theory. Scientific discovery does not always occur linearly, so excuse my rather simple analogy, the point I am trying to make is that there is so much information on everything nowadays.
Information can be a blessing and a curse. With information increase, there is also an increase in misinformation.
The pace of the news cycle, which is now 24/7, makes for some hasty statements and thinking, and sometimes politicians make bold statements with no thought. Think of every politician that ever lived.
This is what conspiracy theorists thrive on, the half truths and the misinformation that arises. Sensation seeking journalists and media who exaggerate and trade in half truths feed the conspiracy mill.
The media has reached this point now and I quote.
“For the first time, Edelman’s annual trust barometer, which it shared with Axios, revealed that fewer than half of all Americans acknowledge any kind of trust in the mainstream media. Fifty-six percent of Americans, for example, said they agreed with the following statement: “Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”
Large corporations owning shares and setting the media messages has killed independent journalism, and the skeptical public that grows in number each day, are wise to the corporate influence.
A comical look at this comes from Blackadder, a TV series written by Ben Elton and Rowan Atkinson, series two. I quote from the script, ‘D’ is the doctor that ‘E’ had an appointment with ‘E’ is Edmund Blackadder
“… An extraordinary new cure has just been developed for exactly this kind of sordid problem.
E: It wouldn’t have anything to do with leeches, would it?
D: I had no idea you were a medical man.
E: Never had anything you doctors didn’t try to cure with leeches. A leech on my ear for earache, a leech on my bottom for constipation.
D: They’re marvellous, aren’t they?
E: Well, the bottom one wasn’t. I just sat there and squashed it.
D: You know the leech comes to us on the highest authority?
E: Yes. I know that. Dr. Hoffmann of Stuttgart, isn’t it?
D: That’s right, the great Hoffmann.
E: Owner of the largest leech farm in Europe”
And it is into this environment and the complete fragmentation of media outlets and online media and content sites that conspiracy theories bubble up.
Once a politician says something that isn’t true, or the media speaks in half truths and people discover the truth, the conspiracy theorists can start asking, ‘Do you still believe the media? The politicians who lie to you continually?’ They can supply some persuasive clips highlighting the misinformation and then set themselves up as credible.
After all, they discovered and highlighted all the lies to you, so why wouldn’t you trust them. Once they have you doubting, they can manipulate that doubt into trusting what they have to say.
Sometimes, the conspiracies actually turn out to be true. For instance, the Watergate scandal was initially a conspiracy theory.
So who do we trust? How do we choose what to and who to trust?
Evidence, as they say ‘Just the facts’. It’s all about the evidence that sorts the liars from the truthful.
With so much information pervading our lives continually, on important matters it is always good to dig deep, go beyond the headlines, seek out the facts behind the headline and you will surprise yourself that sometime the headline is completely factual, but at other times the headline is so far from truth, you wonder how they could publish it.
I recall once I saw a headline that a man sentenced for assault had assaulted the news cameraman, who was recovering in hospital, as he hit his head on the sidewalk after the heavy blow he received.
When I saw the footage that night on the TV, it was completely the cameraman’s own fault. He was in the guy’s face, and the guy had to push past him. He didn’t push the camera man aggressively. The camera man tripped and fell backwards and hit his head. The way they wrote the headline, you would swear he punched the cameraman in the face. He merely brushed past him, with his arms up as the crowd and media scrum was pressing him.
The guy up for assault was not innocent, that is why he was up for assault, but there was no major assault on the cameraman. It was merely a sensationalist headline. This happens all the time in Australia. A recent poll showed that only 41% of the public trust the media, down from 59% two years ago.
I quote. “Australians’ trust in traditional and digital media has declined over the past five years, due largely to the prevalence of fake news and doubts about media outlets’ intentions, according to the global “Trust in the Media“ study by Ipsos.”
The media and the politicians themselves create the cesspool for the conspiracy theorists to thrive.
When politicians make blanket statements as they often do, they open themselves up to being discredited, and once that happens, the thin edge of the wedge is then in place to expand the opening of conspiracy and speculation.
https://www.ipsos.com/en-au/australians-trust-media-less-ipsos-trust-media-study