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NASA chief scientist weighs in
Americans are "under siege" from disinformation designed to confuse the public about the threat of climate change, Nasa's former chief scientist has said.
Speaking to the Guardian, Ellen Stofan, who left the US space agency in December, said that a constant barrage of half-truths had left many Americans oblivious to the potentially dire consequences of continued carbon emissions, despite the science being unequivocal.
"We are under siege by fake information that's being put forward by people who have a profit motive," she said, citing oil and coal companies as culprits. "Fake news is so harmful because once people take on a concept it's very hard to dislodge it."
During the past six months, the US science community has woken up to this threat, according to Stofan, and responded by ratcheting up efforts to communicate with the public at the grassroots level as well as in the mainstream press.
"The harder part is this active disinformation campaign," she said before her appearance at Cheltenham Science Festival this week. "I'm always wondering if these people honestly believe the nonsense they put forward. When they say 'It could be volcanoes' or 'the climate always changes'... to obfuscate and to confuse people, it frankly makes me angry."
Stofan added that while "fake news" is frequently characterised as a problem in the right-leaning media, she saw evidence of an "erosion of people's ability to scrutinise information" across the political spectrum. "All of us have a responsibility," she said. "There's this attitude of 'I read it on the internet therefore it must be true'."
No editorial comment included.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 12 2017, @02:55AM (1 child)
Bullshit propaganda has been around forever. The pirate/swindler Gregor MacGregor comes to mind, taking a well manned fort without firing a shot by spreading disinformation that he had a huge army ready to invade, getting the garrison to abandon the fort then taking it with his much smaller force - once inside they could easily hold off the force that had just abandoned it. This happened almost 200 years ago today, using gossip spread in a bar.
Both sides of any major issue play the game, there is no "high ground" only posturing and targeting. Those who are truly holding the high ground (impossible to identify in most major fracas) are drowned out by the well-intentioned "on their side" doing whatever it takes to win the political war.
Climate change, environment, toxins, health care, economics, finance, international intrigue - you can spot the liars: they are the ones whose lips are moving.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday June 12 2017, @08:28AM
Public people needing propaganda money, fame or screaming as in local protests too often have nothing to say. So looking for speakers force multipliers tend to be a good sign of the lips that moves..