The CBC wants to put an end to misinformation during the coronavirus era. If only they weren’t so prolific themselves when it comes to spreading misinformation.
It has released a remake of those videos on how to talk to your crazy uncle at Thanksgiving, the coronavirus version, on how to disabuse your “conspiracy theorist” relatives of their right to share links on group family chats.
The thing is, in the instructional video, they actually use a dubious example of their own “credible” reporting.
Is uncle Bob spreading COVID-19 misinformation in the family group chat? This doesn't have to be awkward. pic.twitter.com/SxX5HVqY9a
— CBC News: The National (@CBCTheNational) April 15, 2020
The scenario proposed is that you are chatting with the fam on a group chat, and someone shares something that could be classified by the government as misinformation. The question as to how you should know this is misinformation is answered by saying that it comes from an unknown source, a “site you’ve never heard of.” And the answer provided is to share more credible information, from the CBC perhaps.
“So what do you do when this happens,” says a very helpful self-isolated journalist at her kitchen island, “a loved one, let’s say it’s your dad, drops into the family group chat with something he thinks is real. It’s something about China manufacturing the coronavirus. There’s a link to a site you’ve never heard of with a message calling it ‘scary stuff.’ So what do you do with this? Do you ignore it? Do you call him out with a message saying how ridiculous you think this is?”
She calls another self-isolated talking head, Claire Wardle, executive director of non-for-profit media watch group First Draft. “If you do that to your dad, you’ve actually shamed him,” Wardle says. “What happens is that your dad doubles down on his view, and he dismisses what you’re saying. Use language that’s empathetic and to say we’re all in this together. Rather than ‘you’re wrong I’m right here are the facts.”
“Sending more context could also be a good move, but don’t drown them in evidence. Maybe send an article from a legitimate source including credible scientists on why the virus wasn’t manufactured. Conspiracies can be just as infectious, just as dangerous as a virus, so you have to guard against them,” Wardle says.
Read the rest here: https://thepostmillennial.com/cbc-combat-misinformation-tweet