{"id":5295,"date":"2020-10-05T14:36:16","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T19:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/?p=5295"},"modified":"2020-10-05T14:36:16","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T19:36:16","slug":"sifting-through-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sifting through misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In weeks approaching the election, we are awash in messaging. Not only are we seeing politician-approved ads, but likely also items in categories* including propaganda, lies, conspiracies, rumors, hoaxes, hyperpartisan content, falsehoods and manipulated media. Such misinformation undermines healthy democratic processes and discourages civic engagement. “The political health of our nation still suffers from the stain of antidemocratic exclusion. Efforts to restrict access to voting should be condemned and resisted,” warns the ELCA social message “Government and Civic Engagement in the United States: Discipleship in a Democracy<\/a>.” Much misinformation feeds this problem. Guidance to advance our public life in the social message reads, \u201cThere is a sharp distinction between public service and private gain, a distinction measured by the straightforward question ‘Whose good is being served?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What’s the problem?<\/h5>\n

\"\"<\/a>Material from The Episcopal Church* cautions: \u201cAudiences that mostly consume mainstream media see far more false insider stories and conspiracy theories than they might realize. While mainstream media itself remains highly reliable, online algorithms that favor content with high engagement instead of content with high veracity make it easier to transmit misinformation to these audiences through widely-used platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Hunger Network in Ohio, part of our Lutheran state public policy office network, reflected on online engagement, they wrote<\/a>: \u201cSocial media offers everyone a chance to help shape the news and the content that each other sees. This is both a blessing and a curse\u2026\u201d They continued, \u201cFalse news hurts our ability for civil discourse and wrestling with difficult issues to find solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consuming a blip of information may take just a moment, but taking extra moments to clarify that information\u2019s source and intent can help keep us from fanning destructive tendencies that divide us. \u201cIt seems that we want to cut ourselves off from each other,\u201d said Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton in her video address \u201cWe are in this together”<\/a> (9\/25\/20). \u201cNot only do we disagree, but we say the other is wrong, or they say we are wrong, or we accuse each other somehow of mounting a platform \u2013 like we want to divorce each other. But this is not possible. In baptism, the Spirit has forged us together in a bond that is unbreakable by any human sin or even by our anxiety or our desire to get away from the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What can we do about it?<\/h5>\n

\"\"<\/a>Check out the wide ranging exploration of a spectrum of misinformation, malinformation and disinformation, created and spread by \u201cjokers, scammers, interest-driven entities, conspiracy theorists, \u2018insiders\u2019, celebrities, or your friends and family,\u201d available from The Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n

“Misinformation, Disinformation, Fake News: Why Do We Care?<\/a>“<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t catch all that is streaming past us, but we can help stop contribution to the problem.<\/p>\n

Among remedying tips in the piece is: \u201cConsuming high-quality, diverse media improves our understanding of the world and equips us to identify and critically evaluate misinformation. Even if you don\u2019t follow every trusted source closely, knowing where to go to find accurate information or a different perspective about a topic is extremely helpful.\u201d Then there are the three questions to run through before you \u201cre-share that tweet, or tell a friend about that surprising headline you saw.\u201d Where\u2019s it from? What\u2019s missing? How do you feel? [See graphic for additional description.]<\/p>\n

The feeling when we share should be the affirmation of contribution to constructive discussion. \u201cWe are one body in Christ,\u201d proclaimed Presiding Bishop Eaton<\/a>. \u201cThis is the witness we in the ELCA need to give to the world and to understand and live ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

*”Misinformation, Disinformation, Fake News: Why Do We Care<\/a>,” post from Office of Government Relations of The Episcopal Church (May 21, 2020 update), content shared by permission<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In weeks approaching the election, we are awash in messaging. Not only are we seeing politician-approved ads, but likely also items in categories* including propaganda, lies, conspiracies, rumors, hoaxes, hyperpartisan content, falsehoods and manipulated media. Such misinformation undermines healthy democratic processes and discourages civic engagement. “The political health of our nation still suffers from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSifting through misinformation - ELCA Advocacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sifting through misinformation - ELCA Advocacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In weeks approaching the election, we are awash in messaging. Not only are we seeing politician-approved ads, but likely also items in categories* including propaganda, lies, conspiracies, rumors, hoaxes, hyperpartisan content, falsehoods and manipulated media. Such misinformation undermines healthy democratic processes and discourages civic engagement. “The political health of our nation still suffers from the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA Advocacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-05T19:36:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2020\/10\/2009blogmisinformation.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ELCA Advocacy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ELCA Advocacy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ELCA Advocacy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a1b9b3949dd5294070662c034020573b\"},\"headline\":\"Sifting through misinformation\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-05T19:36:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":627,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sifting through misinformation - ELCA Advocacy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-05T19:36:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a1b9b3949dd5294070662c034020573b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/sifting-through-misinformation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sifting through misinformation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/\",\"name\":\"ELCA Advocacy\",\"description\":\"Advocacy ministries of the ELCA want to share stories and your voices about public policies and relevant advocacy issues that are of interest to you.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a1b9b3949dd5294070662c034020573b\",\"name\":\"ELCA Advocacy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34d61870bff986c8b9ceba505ba8a8d768f14f335dd973008481ad046025dbbf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34d61870bff986c8b9ceba505ba8a8d768f14f335dd973008481ad046025dbbf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34d61870bff986c8b9ceba505ba8a8d768f14f335dd973008481ad046025dbbf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ELCA Advocacy\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/advocacy\\\/author\\\/karenkrueger\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sifting through misinformation - ELCA Advocacy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sifting through misinformation - ELCA Advocacy","og_description":"In weeks approaching the election, we are awash in messaging. Not only are we seeing politician-approved ads, but likely also items in categories* including propaganda, lies, conspiracies, rumors, hoaxes, hyperpartisan content, falsehoods and manipulated media. Such misinformation undermines healthy democratic processes and discourages civic engagement. “The political health of our nation still suffers from the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/","og_site_name":"ELCA Advocacy","article_published_time":"2020-10-05T19:36:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":940,"height":788,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2020\/10\/2009blogmisinformation.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"ELCA Advocacy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ELCA Advocacy","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/"},"author":{"name":"ELCA Advocacy","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/#\/schema\/person\/a1b9b3949dd5294070662c034020573b"},"headline":"Sifting through misinformation","datePublished":"2020-10-05T19:36:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/"},"wordCount":627,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2020\/10\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png","articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/","name":"Sifting through misinformation - ELCA Advocacy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2020\/10\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png","datePublished":"2020-10-05T19:36:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/#\/schema\/person\/a1b9b3949dd5294070662c034020573b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2020\/10\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2020\/10\/2009blogmisinformation-300x251.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/sifting-through-misinformation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sifting through misinformation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/","name":"ELCA Advocacy","description":"Advocacy ministries of the ELCA want to share stories and your voices about public policies and relevant advocacy issues that are of interest to you.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/#\/schema\/person\/a1b9b3949dd5294070662c034020573b","name":"ELCA Advocacy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34d61870bff986c8b9ceba505ba8a8d768f14f335dd973008481ad046025dbbf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34d61870bff986c8b9ceba505ba8a8d768f14f335dd973008481ad046025dbbf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34d61870bff986c8b9ceba505ba8a8d768f14f335dd973008481ad046025dbbf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ELCA Advocacy"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/author\/karenkrueger\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5295"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5313,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295\/revisions\/5313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}