Who’s Afraid of “Misinformation” Anyway?

Whatever happened to just being wrong? “Spreading misinformation” is what we like to call it now, a passive-aggressive way of saying “you’re lying but you’re too stupid to realize it.” It’s patronizing and it portrays skepticism (about certain handpicked, sacrosanct views, at least) as immoral. Those questions you say you’re “just asking”? People will die.

The people most vocal about saving us from misinformation never seem to be concerned that they’ll fall for it. In fact, I suspect they consume it in secret, like Soviet apparatchiks watching smuggled VHS copies of Solid Gold. What exactly is misinformation, and what if it’s good for you? Our sister publication Return investigates.

Provisions

It’s not misinformation that makes so many news sources unbearable, it’s the clumsily obvious partisan spin. (I’ll apply my own when I post the link in the group chat). Got five minutes? Upward is a free, daily email that strives to give you just facts on only the most important events of the day. Try out their recent “Twitter Files Recap” and see what you think.

Training

“PorN is A hEaLthy anD NoRmaL ExPreSsion oF SeXuALitY.” Yeah, I’m gonna give that statement five Pinocchios. One of the most insidious things about it is how widely accessible it is — especially for children. When she’s not fighting the culture war as America’s most beloved Domestic Extremist, the wonderful Peachy Keenan keeps busy as a mother of five. As such, she’s got some battle-tested methods for keeping your kids safe from the slimy tentacles of online smut purveyors. Read “How to Keep Your Kids Porn-Free” now.

Culture

Last year Rolling Stone published Tim Wiener’s scathing review of JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, Oliver Stone’s documentary follow-up to his 1991 masterpiece. Wiener also reveals himself as no fan of the original JFK, calling it “a film unrivaled in the annals of American cinematic propaganda.” In Wiener’s view, there’s something dangerous about the topic itself, which “has taught generations of Americans to be highly skeptical of the Official Government Version of events.” Heaven forbid!

As an introduction to the conspiratorial mindset, JFK is indeed extremely effective. Editors Pietro Scala and Joe Hutshing (who shared an Academy Award for their work) masterfully weave archival footage, fictionalized recreations, and many long, expository speeches into a seamlessly gripping and entertaining three-and-a-half hours. Unlike Wiener, many of the viewers who flocked to JFK were not ready to dismiss Stone’s vivid speculations as the result of “Russian disinformation.” In fact, the film created enough overwhelming public pressure that Congress moved up the declassification and release of thousands of assassination-related documents from 2029 to 2018.

Exemplar

That any citizen can ask the government to release documents like those concerning the JFK assassination is largely thanks to the persistence of one man, Congressman John E. Moss (1915 – 1997). It took Moss twelve years to pass the Freedom of Information Act, a sign of how attached bureaucrats on both sides of the aisle were to what Moss called the “cult of secrecy.” Moss’s crusade never won him much popularity among his peers, but that he never lost an election in his 25-year career is a testament to his respect for his constituents. As Moss put it when making his case for the FOIA, “We must remove every barrier to information about—and understanding of—government activities consistent with our security if the American public is to be adequately equipped to fulfill the ever more demanding role of responsible citizenship.”