Per the knightfoundation.org poll 39% of Americans believe that news they see on TV, read in the papers, or hear on the radio is misinformative. Over 65% of readers believe the news they read on social media is misinformation or simply false.
When younger, an older gentleman, shared with me some simple advice on how to handle news going on around me and to be careful how I react. The words he shared with me are words of advice that I carry with me today. “Believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see.“
Yet it appears today that most Americans do not heed this advice but rather take what is written in News Headlines or shared on the TV as factual and truthful.
Misinformation is defined as “the deliberate creation and sharing of false and/or manipulated information that is intended to deceive and mislead audiences, either for the purposes of causing harm, or for political, personal or financial gain.” Yet mainstream media appears to be feeding into the frenzy of creating misinformation to fit a political agenda or further divide Americans into groups.
Recent news headlines, like the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” being passed in Florida, have riled up the LGBTQ community and others into believing there is a bill being passed by Florida legislature to ban schools and teachers from teaching lessons that discuss LGBTQ identities. Even President Joe Biden has made comments based on headlines calling the bill hateful and impacting on kids of the LGBTQ community.
The Florida bill being referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill is really called HB1557. The bill is designed to put safeguards in place to restrict schools and teachers from discussing gender orientation with students in Primary Grade levels K-4 (sometimes up to grade 7 depending on the school district. Source: Organization of US Education ED.gov). The bill states “A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” Many parents surveyed agree that discussing sexual orientation or body changes before 4th or 5th grade is too early for young individuals who are just learning who they are.
According to KidsHealth.org it typically is not until a child reaches middle school, as they enter adolescence, that many teens recognize their sexual orientation. While the bill will limit discussing sexual orientations with students K-4 or typically under 9 years of age the bill does not prevent the schools from having these discussions with students entering adolescence in 5th grade or about 10 years old and older.
In conclusion based on the definition of misinformation it appears to me that there is an attempt by larger news outlets to misinform citizens, create total chaos, and develop unnecessary hatred. All because of a headline that is spreading misinformation. Reality is as a nation we should be coming together to work on solutions that allow us to grow as people, communities, and a nation. Instead of creating knee jerk headlines that mislead people into believing something that is not true we should be discussing the context of the actual bill to understand its meaning in order to develop a strategy that is healthy for most.
What are your thoughts?
I have noticed that most headlines are misleading. If you read the entire body of the work, you may get a full explanation. But many times I end the article with the thought, “did they mean to disprove their hypothesis?” Unfortunately, the reading comprehension lessons of the last twenty years have been 1.) read the questions first. 2.) skim the first sentences of the paragraphs (headlines) 3.) pick the best answer out of the four. Very few people read the text anymore!