I notice that an increasing part of my daily efforts are focused on addressing different types of media misinformation and that my primary work role with clients and others has shifted as a result of this societal drift.
I conclude that addressing the flood of media misinformation will require cultural change in learning more about: 1) how we make sense of information, 2) the relationship between the concepts of truth, information, and beliefs, 3) whom we trust, and, 4) how our own brain processes new information that contradicts our existing beliefs.
Quick and easy solutions like media content labeling and source filtering may make the controversy go away for us, but certainly won’t address the underlying societal problem.
So far, our attempts at boosting media literacy have resulted in increased tribalism and not in better understanding of how to arrive at truth.
My own efforts over the past few years have focused on disciplined learning of executive coaching principles. These tools and techniques can be highly effective in addressing these misinformation challenges.