8/16/2024
Aug 16, 2024
My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,
How did your thing go at Prince George’s Community College? The NY Post claims “the crowd left early” after KDH introduced you, but when I looked at their 30 sec video, I noticed the same lady leaving twice. Just another reminder to be on the lookout for false info.
SoW, today I learned about the distinction between false information, which is “disseminated with the intent to deceive, & “misinformation, which lacks such intent but is still false.” I ran across this in an article in Myanmar Now with the headline, “Myanmar’s Spring Revolution: Navigating the depths of information warfare.”
I’m going to have the freshmen in my seminar read it this fall, because it lays out the dangers of media illiteracy. It points out that people who are “disillusioned & desperate for change … fuelled by a mix of hope, speculation, & a craving for sensational news” are susceptible to rumors. Producers in “pursuit of viral content” are inclined to amplify “both misinformation & disinformation.”
The article included an analysis of why so many Burmese were convinced that Gen Min Aung Hlaing had been detained by other generals in the junta. It took photos of his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to debunk the myth.
The article concludes, “by fostering a more critical & informed public, Myanmar can better navigate the complexities of its ongoing conflict & work towards a more accurate & reliable information environment.” The New York Post piece suggests that we need to do the same in the USA.
Thanks for your support of the effort to designate the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument. Acknowledging our mistakes of the past reminds us of our potential to conflict harm on our neighbor. I am grateful to people like artist, Preston Jackson, for keeping this history alive. I hope to visit Springfield with my BFF so we can deepen our understanding of the role of our home state in our nation’s history.
BYBS,
