News today is prolific and unfiltered.
An educated readership must actively participate in sorting through layers of available information and draw their own conclusions about bias and credibility. According to Brent Cunningham and Alan C. Miller:
All information is not created equal, and it is crucial for the health of our democracy that people have the skills to find what is credible — and to understand why the distinctions matter.
In their article in the Apr. 13 issue of USA Today , As journalism changes, so must you, they describe an explosion of news and an internet that can no longer maintain boundaries between “opinion and fact”, “professional and amateur.”
Of course they concur that news today is deeply democratic, allowing all sides to participate in a conversation about current events. But it is just this point that throws a wrench into the works — sides. The journalistic pursuit of objectivity and integrity in reporting is no longer a requirement of much of what is written. Agendas, biases and misinformation continue to contaminate much of today’s news.
As our “relationship to news is becoming portable, personalized and participatory”, we as readers must be involved in dissecting the information presented to us. We should consider it with a keen eye and an ever so slight air of suspicion.
Health news in particular requires a supremely literate readership. When it comes to disease, medicine and what we put into our bodies, misinformation is potentially lethal. As the lines blur between truth and sensationalism, we must consider that the complexity of health related issues makes it an easy target for irresponsible content.
The authors argue that, “we need a national effort to create a savvy, digital-age citizenry that is informed and engaged.” As true as that is, health education should be on the top of the list. The legislation and science behind the big health decisions of our time should not be presented as esoteric gibberish; rather, it seems to be the responsibility of the legislator, company or researcher to explain their choices and their knowledge coherently to the public. It is then the responsibility of the consumer herself to assess the validity of the information presented.
Communicating ideas well is the first step to educating a public, and this particularly applies at a time rife with healthcare debate. A PR strategy must consider the extent of information available and aim to disseminate the most intelligible message that will not be lost among the white noise.
