In Jesse Millers presentation on digital literacy he talks about different topics that got me thinking about alternate sources of information. In the past, the only way information was spread wide and quick was through the news; this was seen as credible because information came from respectable sources. Today, mainstream news networks are being increasingly depicted as having an agenda.
I think it’s interesting how, in tandem with the diminishing trust in mainstream media, the gap between the public is being wedged more by independent sources on social media. With the rise of social media people can blow up and become mainstays with often no merit, which can be a good thing for dropping some red tape but is a negative in the sense of the spread of potentially dangerous misinformation. A point that Jesse sparked me to realize is that it’s important to trust experts on things they are experts in. For instance, one may be inclined to believe a scientist on a variety of subjects, but you shouldn’t trust a physicist to talk about dietary issues. I bring this up to show that even people with a high education are not reliable sources for all subjects. When you start to get people who are not even formally educated speaking on difficult topics with confusing details, it lends itself very quickly to the spread of misinformation.
A huge proprietor of this can be seen in Joe Rogan. The tremendously popular podcast host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast has had on a large roster of educated guests that have spoken about their fields. With having such a large influence, the opinions him and his guests share impact his listeners similar to how the news impacts their viewers. Unlike news companies, however, that require fact checks, sources to be sited, and journalists to have credentials, independent media needs none of that. While not always the case, Joe and others like him often misinterpret and therefor misinform their audiences. An instance in which this is clear is when he makes claims on the global climate influenced by a study he misinterprets. This video by Climate Town (Someone with a climate science degree) explains that situation clearly. It is interesting that the scrutiny credible news gets is often left out when their audience trust them