How to avoid gaffes
With cries of “fake news” coming from all sides, schools are stepping up— teaching media literacy to help students distinguish rumor from fact, hoax from reality.
As President Donald Trump’s bizarre suggestion of a recent terrorist attack in Sweden proved last weekend, he needs a crash course. We’re here to help. So let’s review some basics. 1. Compare and contrast information sources. A single source can easily get it wrong, so it’s wise to see if a number of reputable news outlets are reporting the same thing. In this case, no one was reporting a terrorist attack in Sweden— certainly not that Fox segment. A Google search would have helped. Or a quick check with someone in, say, the CIA.
2. Don’t share without verifying. One useful rule is to check three times before spreading what you think is news. Granted, that’s intended to apply to regular people who might be posting on Facebook or retweeting an article or photograph. For a presidential speech before thousands that will be televised globally? Definitely check at least once.
3. If you put out misinformation, correct it quickly. This is not Trump’s strong suit, given his long years of spreading lies about Barack Obama’s birthplace before eventually agreeing with the obvious. No such correction yet for the Swedish gaffe. He backed off a little in a tweet, saying that his statement suggesting a specific attack was in reference to a TV report. And, two days later, Sweden did experience a riot in an immigrant- heavy suburb of Stockholm, though it certainly didn’t bear comparison to terrorist attacks in Paris or Nice.
4. Be skeptical. The TV- obsessed president should consider that not everything on his favorite medium is true. Not even if Sean Hannity says it. Not everything the conspiracy- mongering Alex Jones— who long cast doubt on whether the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre really happened— might confide on the phone is true. Even Fox & Friends makes a mistake once in a while.
5. Use critical thinking. Granted, this is tough for our president. Last October, Trump revved up his campaign rallies with the idea that Hillary Clinton was on performance- enhancing drugs.
Critical thinking tells us that even if we want to believe something, the trustworthiness of the source must be considered.
Since President Trump wants to change the world, he also might consider the words of George Orwell since, just like the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the author of 1984 has done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more.
“In a time of universal deceit,” Orwell wrote, “telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Time to storm the barricades.