I finished the 5-part series.
How it happened: Whenever I offered a standard legal explainer on social media, my comments would contain a tsunami of rage, cynicism, and misinformation.
These were people I had gotten to know. They consume mainstream news, cable news, and what we might call left-leaning social media. They are in favor of an inclusive democracy. They were horrified by Trump's presidency.
I expect baseless conspiracy theories from those immersed in right-wing media. I didn't expect it from what we might call mainstream and left-leaning news outlets.
This series was my attempt to get to the root of the problem. Prof. Dannagal Young's book How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation offered me the framework.
Part 1: “There are no Yankees here.“
Part 2: “Creating the Conditions for Mainstream Conspiracy Theories.“
Part 3: “The Perils of Legal Punditry.”
Part 4: “Get the Fighters Fighting”
Part 5: “The Misinformation-Outrage Cycle”
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I found your series enlightening.
I look at MSNBC, my main news source, more critically.
It confirmed my dislike of memes & graphics. I seldom post any. I use Facebook to comment on what is happening in the world, but I write instead of posting graphics.
Thank you for such an excellent series.
I’d love to own a short manual for democracy written by YOU, Teri. You have a unique POV. It would include your ways to get involved plus your writings on misinformation, how the justice system works slowly but surely, and anything else you deem important. I would then buy 10 copies and give them to my most active/concerned/patriotic friends.
A million thanks for your work. Since I was born in a communist country, I am extra sensitive and passionate--I can’t lose this country, my second homeland, too, so I’m in this fight until the end. Because I know the unthinkable can happen nearly anywhere, you have talked me off the ledge and into a place of relative calm, more times than I can count. 💕 --Sheila C.