Fake News – Learning Less but Believing More?

A study out of Ohio state reports that “fake” news, such as Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report, doesn’t inform or teach viewers as much about political issues and cadidates as does watching news on television networks like CNN and NBC.  I never thought learning was the issue when reports started coming out saying that many young people were getting their news from Jon Stewart.  In fact, in my current research, Comedy Central comes in about third in viewer’s choice of an information source.  I interpret this as a matter of trust, not education.  We all know that Jon Stewart’s primary goal is to be funny and entertain us.  This certainty means we can process what we receive from him in that context.  Within that context, he has no reason to lie, distort, or otherwise reframe current events. 

On the other hand, television news is presented as truth, without any signposts to clue us in to the economic pressues that drive content choice and framing of a given network, producer, or station.  Without that context, we are mssing vital information as to the reliability or pitch of the information we receive.  Due diligence demands we confirm or deny from other sources which requires time and effort.  It is no wonder that the American public is a little cynical about mainstream media as a source of truth (if there is such a thing.)  I am not, I should note, a believer in all the conspiracy theories about media bias, government control, corporate America, the neo-cons, and other influential group.  I am, however, a believer in market forces and as long as television programming decisions are driven by eyeballs (ratings) in order to generate the revenues to stay economically viable in a tough market, the content choices will be driven by the things chosen to attract our attention.   Cynicism, however, does not impede retention.  In fact, it might even enhance it by engaging critical thinking.