I examined the article, The Curative Effect of Social Media on Fake News: A Historical Re-evaluation, which looks into the history of disinformation, especially through comparing current social media-based strategies, to those created in earlier eras; asserting that although disinformation is often perceived as a modern phenomenon, it has existed for many years, even before the development of the computer.

The article starts by comparing the media landscape between the early 20th century and the current day. Interestingly, the use of emerging technology was one of the similarities. The main difference was the source. The article showed that the highlighted article in 1917 was published by the mainstream media, rather than on social media or personal websites. Having the backing of a mainstream publication made it easier for people to believe the article from 1917, especially as media literacy and fact checking skills were still inaccessible to most people.

I found that looking through a historical lens was helpful, as it was able to show how often history repeats itself, and to see if people in the past had strategies to help people disregard disinformation. It also showed how much impact technology has on who is able to get accurate information, and how they can access it. With that being said, articles similar to the 1917 example still get published today; the most common recent example would probably be the Weapons of Mass Destruction narrative from the early 2000s, which eventually led to the war in Iraq.

To complement the article, we also listened to a Radiolab episode examining the radio play of HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds, and how its broadcast duped many listeners into believing that Earth was being invaded by Martians. While I have heard of the hysteria surrounding the broadcast, I had not researched it properly.

From my understanding, the issues surrounding the broadcast seemed to be more due to the station rather than the producer. By only announcing that it was a play at the beginning of the broadcast, it was easy for casual listeners to stumble upon it, and assume that it was a special report.

References:

Abumrad, J & Krulwich, R 2018, ‘War of the Worlds’, Radiolab, podcast, WNYC, New York, 31 October, viewed 7 May 2021, <https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/war-worlds>

Van Heekeren, M 2020, ‘The Curative Effect of Social Media on Fake News: A Historical Re-evaluation’, Journalism Studies, vol. 21, no. 3, viewed 22 May 2021, <https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1642136>