Dr. M the Science Femme
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Early access to script - identifying misinformation
🕑 Added 2025-09-25 18:58:36 +0000 UTCFeedback requested! Imagine some fun visual transitions for this one.
Ground News hasn’t seen or signed off on this yet, but they’re supposed to be sponsoring this video. They might come back with requested revisions, but hopefully not.
I also recommend work (research & substack blog) by Matthew Facciani on this subject!
Falling for misinformation and propaganda is UNDERSTANDABLE. Some of the most DECEPTIVE messages have a kernel of truth to them, which makes them perfectly engineered to distort your judgement. We all need to be using LATERAL READING to protect ourselves from bad actors, so you have room to form your own ACTUALLY EDUCATED opinions. Let’s say you see a crazy headline. WOAH, RESHARE (hold on.)
• Who posted this, where did this information come from originally?
• [flip right] New browser tab - google this motherfucker - what are people saying about their credibility?
• [flip left] Back to the article. What’s their *goal here?* who are they targeting, and why? Are they trying to bait me into an emotional reaction?? [red flag eyes]
Something I ALWAYS do when evaluating a piece of news is LATERAL READING. I NEVER stop at just one source, or even one GENRE of source. At minimum, I always skim through at least 2 or 3 DIFFERENT reports of the same thing. Ground News is an app that automatically aggregates all the articles about a given subject via AI– and source aggregation is one of those genuinely good uses of AI. They sponsored this video and I wouldn’t have accepted if I didn’t genuinely recommend this.
I want to emphasize that it’s not shameful to make mistakes. I’m a PhD and I’ve been PLENTY duped by talented manipulators. Pick yourself up, learn from it, and keep it moving.
Comments
Dr. M the Science Femme
Ok this is super helpful, I was wondering if that’s obvious enough Not everyone has these skills!!!
Tybonious
So, not to be dismissive of your point, but I'm just a dumbass construction worker, but when I saw the phrase "lateral reading" I knew exactly what it meant. It's a great description for my personal system of double checking. I'm a bit cynical, so it's always come naturally yo me to question things. The more sensational they seem. The more I question.
Dr. M the Science Femme
That’s what I say here— did I not make that clear?
ForestRanger3434
I would be cautious about using sources to aggregate your news. When we employ systems to filter or "give us" content it can be easily manipulated on itself. Systems are run by humans and humans come with biases. Ive always found it better to try to find information that come from varying sites and sources. Dispersed gathering helps gather a wider net and it also cross checks for biases in the sources and yourself.
