EPISODE 18: The Intent & Impact of Misinformation & Disinformation with Dr. Judith E. Rosenbaum & Dr. Liliana Herakova
In this episode of The Connected Way, I connect with guests Judith E. Rosenbaum and Liliana Herkova, both professors of communication at the University of Maine, to discuss their insights into the media’s influence on our understanding of truth, the psychological impact of misinformation and disinformation, and how we can foster better connections amidst polarized information.
TUNE IN TO EPISODE 18 TO HEAR:
The difference between misinformation and disinformation, both of which can distort public perception.
How social media creates echo chambers: information being shared within like-minded communities, reinforcing existing biases.
How deep fakes and manipulated media (forms of disinformation) exploit human reliance on visual and auditory cues for truth.
Why the fragmentation of media consumption makes it harder to relate to those outside our own networks, increasing division.
The importance of looking at things from other sides (as well as great resources to help you).
ABOUT OUR GUESTS:
Judith E. Rosenbaum is Associate Professor of Media Studies and Chair of the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of Maine. Judith conducts research into people's use of digital media content and how this usage interacts with and impacts their identities, relationships, and perceptions of reality. She has examined topics such as social media and democracy; spoilers, enjoyment, and media selection; news literacy and fake news; dating preferences and online dating apps; and the impact of sharing behaviors in online environments using qualitative as well as quantitative methods. Her work has appeared in publications such as Media Psychology, Communication Research, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, Communication Teacher, and Journal of Media Psychology. Her first book, Constructing Digital Cultures: Tweets, trends, race, and gender appeared with Lexington in 2018, and in 2020 she co- edited a volume entitled Twitter, the public sphere, and the chaos of online deliberation. In 2024, she co-authored a textbook on Computer-Mediated Communication.
Liliana Herkova (Lily), is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Maine, Orono. While she continues to be deeply rooted in her home connections, her story of migration has been growing its own complicated tendrils over the last 20+ years of loving, living, and working in the United States. Lily is committed to learning, mothering, baking, and being with nature as spiritual vocations. In her academic life, she researchers the power of relationships and critical engagement with difference to transform learning, as well as the mundane, taken-for-granted communication that creates such experiences. Through story- and culture-centered inquiry, she wonders about the making, unmaking, and re-making of identities, connections, and communities and of social change as a verb.
RESOURCES:
Dealing with media Bias - Decide what news organizations you like - look them up on media bias chart and look at media outlets on the opposite side of the bias to look at the other side. You can find media bias charts here: https://adfontesmedia.com/gallery/
To see the other side of a story, you can go to www.allsides.com and put in your story and it will show you a story from another side.
Center for Media Literacy has great resources: https://www.medialit.org/
A good article on countering disinformation through prebunking: https://www.edf.org/what-prebunking-and-how-do-it-help-advance-evs
Another good article on how to counter misinformation when it comes from someone you know: https://www.edf.org/how-tackle-misinformation-when-its-coming-loved-one
Vivek Murthy’s Book Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World
LEARN MORE & SUPPORT THE SHOW:
Donate on venmo to support the podcast