Navigating the minefield of misinformation

We’re bombarded with misinformation by criminal scammers, foreign governments and ideological zealots, but we can make it easier to identify and avoid by being aware of our own biases and emotions.

Compassion fatigue

There’s so much bad news that people are avoiding news sites, programmes and newspapers, as there’s a limit to how much war, violence, famine and hatred they can take, so appealing to people’s sense of compassion may hold the key to keeping them informed and even taking action to fix our troubled world.

Anger management

Our political worldview is becoming less about what we think and more about what we feel. There’s a reason for that.

Fear and loathing in Australia

As we muddle through the complexities of the 21st century, progress appears to be stifled by a media keen on angering its audience, rather than informing them.

The enemy within

Tucker Carlson’s lickspittle ‘interview’ with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was yet another shot fired by Russia and his American apologists in the propaganda war against Ukraine and NATO, but what more can be done to counter the disinformation campaigns undermining Western democracies?

Tucker Quisling

Tucker Carlson is not the first American reporter to travel to a foreign dictatorship and produce propaganda in the guise of journalism, but he is none the less contemptible for that.

Rollerball

The late, great, Norman Jewison’s 70s science fiction film ‘Rollerball’ depicted a United States in which a handful of massive, unaccountable corporations controlled all information – is this dystopian vision becoming reality?

Does ‘fake news’ really sway elections?

Despite the panic over disinformation and misinformation swaying election results, most studies suggests that fake news is more likely to enhance existing beliefs and views rather than radically change voting intentions of those who are undecided.

Taking the pulse of social media

A survey of X (Twitter) posts has suggested that global happiness levels take about two weeks to rebound following a global crisis, or “shock” event.

Don’t follow the leader

Social systems in which influence is focused around one person or a small number of individuals may create environments where new ideas are ignored, and innovation is hindered.

Fake it till you make it

Only a minority of people share false information but, given the vast scale of social media platforms, even that can lead to fake stories spreading like wildfire.

Scam, scam, scam, scam

Balanced regulation and better-resourced regulators would help protect Australians from the online scams and fraudsters which have proliferated in the digital era.