{"id":104375,"date":"2012-03-08T13:39:11","date_gmt":"2012-03-08T18:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"\/gazette\/?p=104375"},"modified":"2012-03-08T13:39:11","modified_gmt":"2012-03-08T18:39:11","slug":"truth_symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/03\/truth_symposium\/","title":{"rendered":"Sorting reality from \u2018truthiness\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tSorting reality from \u2018truthiness\u2019\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tStephanie Schorow\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Correspondent\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tConference probes how the Web can easily spread either information or lies\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

A digital media awash in \u201ctruthiness\u201d needs \u201ctrustiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

That became clear during a high-octane symposium at Harvard University<\/a> and Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a> that examined comedian Stephen Colbert\u2019s definition of a truth that is known in the gut and can\u2019t be swayed by facts or logic.<\/p>\n

\u201cTruthiness is a rhetorical poker game that the \u2019net let people play,\u201d said Charles Nesson, founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society,<\/a> in giving a midday \u201cinflection point\u201d of a two-day symposium on \u201cTruthiness in Digital Media,\u201d co-hosted by the Berkman Center and the MIT Center for Civic Media <\/a>and supported by the Ford Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, prominent Web activists, researchers, and opinion makers gathered at Harvard to lay out the challenges of truthiness. On Wednesday, they went to the MIT Media Lab for \u201cHack Day\u201d to try to come up with new technical tools to address those challenges. Those were myriad, as indicated by the event\u2019s subtitle: \u201cA symposium that seeks to understand and address propaganda and misinformation in the new media ecosystem,\u201d as in \u201cthe Internet spreads lies.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\r\n\n

Participants described a media landscape where roving bots produce near-human conversation on Twitter, where citizens cluster in right- or left-wing echo chambers, and where measured, carefully presented debunking may only reinforce a falsehood because of quirks in human psychology.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the dark side.<\/p>\n

But the bright side is equally valid, participants noted. Crowdsourcing can effectively debunk falsehoods or sort through confusing public documents like tax returns. And if mainstream journalists fail to fact check, the Internet supports groups that will.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s presentations began with one by someone who admitted he had come over from the dark side: Wendell Potter, a former health industry PR executive turned industry critic. Potter described how the media world has shifted from having skeptical reporters act as gatekeepers to an open field where he could spread information \u201cwithout being asked a difficult question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this means the consumer is at a big disadvantage; it is easy for the dark side to spread misinformation,\u201d Potter said, citing as an example the rumors of \u201cdeath panels\u201d during the health reform debates.<\/p>\n

The symposium showed how researchers, such as Yochai Benkler<\/a>, the Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, and Filippo Menczer, professor of informatics and computer science at Indiana University, are studying, tracking, and graphing the spread of information and misinformation. For example, Benkler showed through a series of slides how discussion of federal anti-piracy legislation moved from technical sites to policy sites and eventually countered the impact of heavily funded lobbying groups to derail the legislation. \u201cIt\u2019s not about fact-checking, it\u2019s about frame shifting,\u201d Benkler said.<\/p>\n

Menczer described how activists used technology to tweet and retweet fake news about President Barack Obama\u2019s health care reform plan, in an effort to target influential Twitter users. Such efforts can be detected, he said, but \u201cby that time the damage is already done. The trick is, can we detect it early, before the damage is done?\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\r\n\n

Tim Hwang, chief scientist of the Pacific Social Architecting Corp., discussed his team\u2019s efforts to create social media bots that were so effective that people often engaged them in long conversations. (Sample bot response being, \u201cThat\u2019s so interesting. Tell me more.\u201d) To prevent manipulation, \u201cYou should treat social networks like computer networks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Many of those who spread misinformation are sincere in that they actually believe that there is no global warming or that vaccines cause health problems. However, there are some Machiavellis out there. Melanie Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<\/a>, discussed a media baron who she says created at least 25 non-profit \u201ceducation\u201d groups\u00a0 (such as one that debunks the \u201cmyth of childhood obesity\u201d) that are staffed by his PR agency. The public, she said, is not aware of the massive funding behind advocacy groups.<\/p>\n

Even journalists can be blinded by their own mindsets, said Kai Wright, a writer and editorial director of Colorlines.com, citing the time in 2006 when some people\u2019s fortunes were booming due to the stock market, while poorer communities were suffering from predatory lending. Should then a reporter say the economy is good or bad? \u201cThe media has done a poor job of reporting the truth because they only look at a narrow set of facts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even if myriad tweets put out the facts, many people may not believe them. Chris Mooney, author of the forthcoming book \u201cThe Republican Brain,\u201d admitted even he had been deceived by the traditional Enlightenment view of reality, the idea that putting out clear, well-reasoned information changes minds. It turns out that the brain doesn\u2019t work that way, he said. Indeed, the smarter you are, he said, the less likely you are to change your mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more capable you are of coming up with an argument that supports your belief, the less likely you are to change,\u201d he said, even if you are only rationalizing, not reasoning. \u201cThere is a science of why we deny science,\u201d Mooney said. \u201cThere is a science of truthiness.<\/p>\n

Often, said Brendan Nyhan, assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, people \u201cdouble down\u201d on their beliefs. And if you restate false claims while debunking them (as in a health brochure on vaccines), you may \u201cmake the claims more familiar, and now they seem more true.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the day was not all gloom: Potter noted that through a social media groundswell, Bank of America did not implement an unpopular new fee. Hwang said bots could also be deployed to detect other bots. During the lively question-and-answer session, Panagiotis Metaxas, a Wellesley computer science professor, said, \u201cI trust crowds quite a bit. They are too big to be bought.\u201d Through technology, crowds can be formed, he added.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, communication professor at the Annenberg School, said the public and journalists should be made aware of methods of fear mongering. Citing her new site, Flackcheck.org, Jamieson urged the audience to push broadcasters to check the veracity of third-party ads before airing them. \u201cYou can learn to detect the patterns of deception,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Video of the symposium will be posted on the Berkman Center\u2019s sit<\/a>e.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2018truthiness\u2019","subheading":"Conference probes how the Web can easily spread either information or lies","className":"is-style-square","backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","centeredImage":false,"coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaHeight":0,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","mediaWidth":0,"posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-square has-light-background has-colored-heading\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tSorting reality from \u2018truthiness\u2019\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tStephanie Schorow\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Correspondent\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2012-03-08\">\n\t\t\tMarch 8, 2012\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t6 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tConference probes how the Web can easily spread either information or lies\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>A digital media awash in \u201ctruthiness\u201d needs \u201ctrustiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That became clear during a high-octane symposium at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard University<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a> that examined comedian Stephen Colbert\u2019s definition of a truth that is known in the gut and can\u2019t be swayed by facts or logic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTruthiness is a rhetorical poker game that the \u2019net let people play,\u201d said Charles Nesson, founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center for Internet & Society,<\/a> in giving a midday \u201cinflection point\u201d of a two-day symposium on \u201cTruthiness in Digital Media,\u201d co-hosted by the Berkman Center and the <a href=\"http:\/\/civic.mit.edu\/\">MIT Center for Civic Media <\/a>and supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/\">Ford Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, prominent Web activists, researchers, and opinion makers gathered at Harvard to lay out the challenges of truthiness. On Wednesday, they went to the MIT Media Lab for \u201cHack Day\u201d to try to come up with new technical tools to address those challenges. Those were myriad, as indicated by the event\u2019s subtitle: \u201cA symposium that seeks to understand and address propaganda and misinformation in the new media ecosystem,\u201d as in \u201cthe Internet spreads lies.\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>A digital media awash in \u201ctruthiness\u201d needs \u201ctrustiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That became clear during a high-octane symposium at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard University<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a> that examined comedian Stephen Colbert\u2019s definition of a truth that is known in the gut and can\u2019t be swayed by facts or logic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTruthiness is a rhetorical poker game that the \u2019net let people play,\u201d said Charles Nesson, founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center for Internet & Society,<\/a> in giving a midday \u201cinflection point\u201d of a two-day symposium on \u201cTruthiness in Digital Media,\u201d co-hosted by the Berkman Center and the <a href=\"http:\/\/civic.mit.edu\/\">MIT Center for Civic Media <\/a>and supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/\">Ford Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, prominent Web activists, researchers, and opinion makers gathered at Harvard to lay out the challenges of truthiness. On Wednesday, they went to the MIT Media Lab for \u201cHack Day\u201d to try to come up with new technical tools to address those challenges. Those were myriad, as indicated by the event\u2019s subtitle: \u201cA symposium that seeks to understand and address propaganda and misinformation in the new media ecosystem,\u201d as in \u201cthe Internet spreads lies.\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>A digital media awash in \u201ctruthiness\u201d needs \u201ctrustiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That became clear during a high-octane symposium at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard University<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a> that examined comedian Stephen Colbert\u2019s definition of a truth that is known in the gut and can\u2019t be swayed by facts or logic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTruthiness is a rhetorical poker game that the \u2019net let people play,\u201d said Charles Nesson, founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center for Internet & Society,<\/a> in giving a midday \u201cinflection point\u201d of a two-day symposium on \u201cTruthiness in Digital Media,\u201d co-hosted by the Berkman Center and the <a href=\"http:\/\/civic.mit.edu\/\">MIT Center for Civic Media <\/a>and supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/\">Ford Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, prominent Web activists, researchers, and opinion makers gathered at Harvard to lay out the challenges of truthiness. On Wednesday, they went to the MIT Media Lab for \u201cHack Day\u201d to try to come up with new technical tools to address those challenges. Those were myriad, as indicated by the event\u2019s subtitle: \u201cA symposium that seeks to understand and address propaganda and misinformation in the new media ecosystem,\u201d as in \u201cthe Internet spreads lies.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Participants described a media landscape where roving bots produce near-human conversation on Twitter, where citizens cluster in right- or left-wing echo chambers, and where measured, carefully presented debunking may only reinforce a falsehood because of quirks in human psychology.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the dark side.<\/p>\n<p>But the bright side is equally valid, participants noted. Crowdsourcing can effectively debunk falsehoods or sort through confusing public documents like tax returns. And if mainstream journalists fail to fact check, the Internet supports groups that will.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s presentations began with one by someone who admitted he had come over from the dark side: Wendell Potter, a former health industry PR executive turned industry critic. Potter described how the media world has shifted from having skeptical reporters act as gatekeepers to an open field where he could spread information \u201cwithout being asked a difficult question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll this means the consumer is at a big disadvantage; it is easy for the dark side to spread misinformation,\u201d Potter said, citing as an example the rumors of \u201cdeath panels\u201d during the health reform debates.<\/p>\n<p>The symposium showed how researchers, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.law.harvard.edu\/faculty\/directory\/index.html?id=419\">Yochai Benkler<\/a>, the Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, and Filippo Menczer, professor of informatics and computer science at Indiana University, are studying, tracking, and graphing the spread of information and misinformation. For example, Benkler showed through a series of slides how discussion of federal anti-piracy legislation moved from technical sites to policy sites and eventually countered the impact of heavily funded lobbying groups to derail the legislation. \u201cIt\u2019s not about fact-checking, it\u2019s about frame shifting,\u201d Benkler said.<\/p>\n<p>Menczer described how activists used technology to tweet and retweet fake news about President Barack Obama\u2019s health care reform plan, in an effort to target influential Twitter users. Such efforts can be detected, he said, but \u201cby that time the damage is already done. The trick is, can we detect it early, before the damage is done?\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Participants described a media landscape where roving bots produce near-human conversation on Twitter, where citizens cluster in right- or left-wing echo chambers, and where measured, carefully presented debunking may only reinforce a falsehood because of quirks in human psychology.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the dark side.<\/p>\n<p>But the bright side is equally valid, participants noted. Crowdsourcing can effectively debunk falsehoods or sort through confusing public documents like tax returns. And if mainstream journalists fail to fact check, the Internet supports groups that will.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s presentations began with one by someone who admitted he had come over from the dark side: Wendell Potter, a former health industry PR executive turned industry critic. Potter described how the media world has shifted from having skeptical reporters act as gatekeepers to an open field where he could spread information \u201cwithout being asked a difficult question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll this means the consumer is at a big disadvantage; it is easy for the dark side to spread misinformation,\u201d Potter said, citing as an example the rumors of \u201cdeath panels\u201d during the health reform debates.<\/p>\n<p>The symposium showed how researchers, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.law.harvard.edu\/faculty\/directory\/index.html?id=419\">Yochai Benkler<\/a>, the Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, and Filippo Menczer, professor of informatics and computer science at Indiana University, are studying, tracking, and graphing the spread of information and misinformation. For example, Benkler showed through a series of slides how discussion of federal anti-piracy legislation moved from technical sites to policy sites and eventually countered the impact of heavily funded lobbying groups to derail the legislation. \u201cIt\u2019s not about fact-checking, it\u2019s about frame shifting,\u201d Benkler said.<\/p>\n<p>Menczer described how activists used technology to tweet and retweet fake news about President Barack Obama\u2019s health care reform plan, in an effort to target influential Twitter users. Such efforts can be detected, he said, but \u201cby that time the damage is already done. The trick is, can we detect it early, before the damage is done?\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Participants described a media landscape where roving bots produce near-human conversation on Twitter, where citizens cluster in right- or left-wing echo chambers, and where measured, carefully presented debunking may only reinforce a falsehood because of quirks in human psychology.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the dark side.<\/p>\n<p>But the bright side is equally valid, participants noted. Crowdsourcing can effectively debunk falsehoods or sort through confusing public documents like tax returns. And if mainstream journalists fail to fact check, the Internet supports groups that will.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s presentations began with one by someone who admitted he had come over from the dark side: Wendell Potter, a former health industry PR executive turned industry critic. Potter described how the media world has shifted from having skeptical reporters act as gatekeepers to an open field where he could spread information \u201cwithout being asked a difficult question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll this means the consumer is at a big disadvantage; it is easy for the dark side to spread misinformation,\u201d Potter said, citing as an example the rumors of \u201cdeath panels\u201d during the health reform debates.<\/p>\n<p>The symposium showed how researchers, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.law.harvard.edu\/faculty\/directory\/index.html?id=419\">Yochai Benkler<\/a>, the Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, and Filippo Menczer, professor of informatics and computer science at Indiana University, are studying, tracking, and graphing the spread of information and misinformation. For example, Benkler showed through a series of slides how discussion of federal anti-piracy legislation moved from technical sites to policy sites and eventually countered the impact of heavily funded lobbying groups to derail the legislation. \u201cIt\u2019s not about fact-checking, it\u2019s about frame shifting,\u201d Benkler said.<\/p>\n<p>Menczer described how activists used technology to tweet and retweet fake news about President Barack Obama\u2019s health care reform plan, in an effort to target influential Twitter users. Such efforts can be detected, he said, but \u201cby that time the damage is already done. The trick is, can we detect it early, before the damage is done?\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Tim Hwang, chief scientist of the Pacific Social Architecting Corp., discussed his team\u2019s efforts to create social media bots that were so effective that people often engaged them in long conversations. (Sample bot response being, \u201cThat\u2019s so interesting. Tell me more.\u201d) To prevent manipulation, \u201cYou should treat social networks like computer networks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those who spread misinformation are sincere in that they actually believe that there is no global warming or that vaccines cause health problems. However, there are some Machiavellis out there. Melanie Sloan, director of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.citizensforethics.org\/\">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<\/a>, discussed a media baron who she says created at least 25 non-profit \u201ceducation\u201d groups\u00a0 (such as one that debunks the \u201cmyth of childhood obesity\u201d) that are staffed by his PR agency. The public, she said, is not aware of the massive funding behind advocacy groups.<\/p>\n<p>Even journalists can be blinded by their own mindsets, said Kai Wright, a writer and editorial director of Colorlines.com, citing the time in 2006 when some people\u2019s fortunes were booming due to the stock market, while poorer communities were suffering from predatory lending. Should then a reporter say the economy is good or bad? \u201cThe media has done a poor job of reporting the truth because they only look at a narrow set of facts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Even if myriad tweets put out the facts, many people may not believe them. Chris Mooney, author of the forthcoming book \u201cThe Republican Brain,\u201d admitted even he had been deceived by the traditional Enlightenment view of reality, the idea that putting out clear, well-reasoned information changes minds. It turns out that the brain doesn\u2019t work that way, he said. Indeed, the smarter you are, he said, the less likely you are to change your mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more capable you are of coming up with an argument that supports your belief, the less likely you are to change,\u201d he said, even if you are only rationalizing, not reasoning. \u201cThere is a science of why we deny science,\u201d Mooney said. \u201cThere is a science of truthiness.<\/p>\n<p>Often, said Brendan Nyhan, assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, people \u201cdouble down\u201d on their beliefs. And if you restate false claims while debunking them (as in a health brochure on vaccines), you may \u201cmake the claims more familiar, and now they seem more true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the day was not all gloom: Potter noted that through a social media groundswell, Bank of America did not implement an unpopular new fee. Hwang said bots could also be deployed to detect other bots. During the lively question-and-answer session, Panagiotis Metaxas, a Wellesley computer science professor, said, \u201cI trust crowds quite a bit. They are too big to be bought.\u201d Through technology, crowds can be formed, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen Hall Jamieson, communication professor at the Annenberg School, said the public and journalists should be made aware of methods of fear mongering. Citing her new site, Flackcheck.org, Jamieson urged the audience to push broadcasters to check the veracity of third-party ads before airing them. \u201cYou can learn to detect the patterns of deception,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Video of the symposium will be posted on the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center\u2019s sit<\/a>e.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Tim Hwang, chief scientist of the Pacific Social Architecting Corp., discussed his team\u2019s efforts to create social media bots that were so effective that people often engaged them in long conversations. (Sample bot response being, \u201cThat\u2019s so interesting. Tell me more.\u201d) To prevent manipulation, \u201cYou should treat social networks like computer networks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those who spread misinformation are sincere in that they actually believe that there is no global warming or that vaccines cause health problems. However, there are some Machiavellis out there. Melanie Sloan, director of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.citizensforethics.org\/\">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<\/a>, discussed a media baron who she says created at least 25 non-profit \u201ceducation\u201d groups\u00a0 (such as one that debunks the \u201cmyth of childhood obesity\u201d) that are staffed by his PR agency. The public, she said, is not aware of the massive funding behind advocacy groups.<\/p>\n<p>Even journalists can be blinded by their own mindsets, said Kai Wright, a writer and editorial director of Colorlines.com, citing the time in 2006 when some people\u2019s fortunes were booming due to the stock market, while poorer communities were suffering from predatory lending. Should then a reporter say the economy is good or bad? \u201cThe media has done a poor job of reporting the truth because they only look at a narrow set of facts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Even if myriad tweets put out the facts, many people may not believe them. Chris Mooney, author of the forthcoming book \u201cThe Republican Brain,\u201d admitted even he had been deceived by the traditional Enlightenment view of reality, the idea that putting out clear, well-reasoned information changes minds. It turns out that the brain doesn\u2019t work that way, he said. Indeed, the smarter you are, he said, the less likely you are to change your mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more capable you are of coming up with an argument that supports your belief, the less likely you are to change,\u201d he said, even if you are only rationalizing, not reasoning. \u201cThere is a science of why we deny science,\u201d Mooney said. \u201cThere is a science of truthiness.<\/p>\n<p>Often, said Brendan Nyhan, assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, people \u201cdouble down\u201d on their beliefs. And if you restate false claims while debunking them (as in a health brochure on vaccines), you may \u201cmake the claims more familiar, and now they seem more true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the day was not all gloom: Potter noted that through a social media groundswell, Bank of America did not implement an unpopular new fee. Hwang said bots could also be deployed to detect other bots. During the lively question-and-answer session, Panagiotis Metaxas, a Wellesley computer science professor, said, \u201cI trust crowds quite a bit. They are too big to be bought.\u201d Through technology, crowds can be formed, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen Hall Jamieson, communication professor at the Annenberg School, said the public and journalists should be made aware of methods of fear mongering. Citing her new site, Flackcheck.org, Jamieson urged the audience to push broadcasters to check the veracity of third-party ads before airing them. \u201cYou can learn to detect the patterns of deception,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Video of the symposium will be posted on the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center\u2019s sit<\/a>e.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Tim Hwang, chief scientist of the Pacific Social Architecting Corp., discussed his team\u2019s efforts to create social media bots that were so effective that people often engaged them in long conversations. (Sample bot response being, \u201cThat\u2019s so interesting. Tell me more.\u201d) To prevent manipulation, \u201cYou should treat social networks like computer networks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those who spread misinformation are sincere in that they actually believe that there is no global warming or that vaccines cause health problems. However, there are some Machiavellis out there. Melanie Sloan, director of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.citizensforethics.org\/\">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<\/a>, discussed a media baron who she says created at least 25 non-profit \u201ceducation\u201d groups\u00a0 (such as one that debunks the \u201cmyth of childhood obesity\u201d) that are staffed by his PR agency. The public, she said, is not aware of the massive funding behind advocacy groups.<\/p>\n<p>Even journalists can be blinded by their own mindsets, said Kai Wright, a writer and editorial director of Colorlines.com, citing the time in 2006 when some people\u2019s fortunes were booming due to the stock market, while poorer communities were suffering from predatory lending. Should then a reporter say the economy is good or bad? \u201cThe media has done a poor job of reporting the truth because they only look at a narrow set of facts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Even if myriad tweets put out the facts, many people may not believe them. Chris Mooney, author of the forthcoming book \u201cThe Republican Brain,\u201d admitted even he had been deceived by the traditional Enlightenment view of reality, the idea that putting out clear, well-reasoned information changes minds. It turns out that the brain doesn\u2019t work that way, he said. Indeed, the smarter you are, he said, the less likely you are to change your mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more capable you are of coming up with an argument that supports your belief, the less likely you are to change,\u201d he said, even if you are only rationalizing, not reasoning. \u201cThere is a science of why we deny science,\u201d Mooney said. \u201cThere is a science of truthiness.<\/p>\n<p>Often, said Brendan Nyhan, assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, people \u201cdouble down\u201d on their beliefs. And if you restate false claims while debunking them (as in a health brochure on vaccines), you may \u201cmake the claims more familiar, and now they seem more true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the day was not all gloom: Potter noted that through a social media groundswell, Bank of America did not implement an unpopular new fee. Hwang said bots could also be deployed to detect other bots. During the lively question-and-answer session, Panagiotis Metaxas, a Wellesley computer science professor, said, \u201cI trust crowds quite a bit. They are too big to be bought.\u201d Through technology, crowds can be formed, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen Hall Jamieson, communication professor at the Annenberg School, said the public and journalists should be made aware of methods of fear mongering. Citing her new site, Flackcheck.org, Jamieson urged the audience to push broadcasters to check the veracity of third-party ads before airing them. \u201cYou can learn to detect the patterns of deception,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Video of the symposium will be posted on the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center\u2019s sit<\/a>e.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>A digital media awash in \u201ctruthiness\u201d needs \u201ctrustiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That became clear during a high-octane symposium at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard University<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a> that examined comedian Stephen Colbert\u2019s definition of a truth that is known in the gut and can\u2019t be swayed by facts or logic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTruthiness is a rhetorical poker game that the \u2019net let people play,\u201d said Charles Nesson, founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center for Internet & Society,<\/a> in giving a midday \u201cinflection point\u201d of a two-day symposium on \u201cTruthiness in Digital Media,\u201d co-hosted by the Berkman Center and the <a href=\"http:\/\/civic.mit.edu\/\">MIT Center for Civic Media <\/a>and supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/\">Ford Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, prominent Web activists, researchers, and opinion makers gathered at Harvard to lay out the challenges of truthiness. On Wednesday, they went to the MIT Media Lab for \u201cHack Day\u201d to try to come up with new technical tools to address those challenges. Those were myriad, as indicated by the event\u2019s subtitle: \u201cA symposium that seeks to understand and address propaganda and misinformation in the new media ecosystem,\u201d as in \u201cthe Internet spreads lies.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\r\n\n<p>Participants described a media landscape where roving bots produce near-human conversation on Twitter, where citizens cluster in right- or left-wing echo chambers, and where measured, carefully presented debunking may only reinforce a falsehood because of quirks in human psychology.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the dark side.<\/p>\n<p>But the bright side is equally valid, participants noted. Crowdsourcing can effectively debunk falsehoods or sort through confusing public documents like tax returns. And if mainstream journalists fail to fact check, the Internet supports groups that will.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s presentations began with one by someone who admitted he had come over from the dark side: Wendell Potter, a former health industry PR executive turned industry critic. Potter described how the media world has shifted from having skeptical reporters act as gatekeepers to an open field where he could spread information \u201cwithout being asked a difficult question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll this means the consumer is at a big disadvantage; it is easy for the dark side to spread misinformation,\u201d Potter said, citing as an example the rumors of \u201cdeath panels\u201d during the health reform debates.<\/p>\n<p>The symposium showed how researchers, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.law.harvard.edu\/faculty\/directory\/index.html?id=419\">Yochai Benkler<\/a>, the Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, and Filippo Menczer, professor of informatics and computer science at Indiana University, are studying, tracking, and graphing the spread of information and misinformation. For example, Benkler showed through a series of slides how discussion of federal anti-piracy legislation moved from technical sites to policy sites and eventually countered the impact of heavily funded lobbying groups to derail the legislation. \u201cIt\u2019s not about fact-checking, it\u2019s about frame shifting,\u201d Benkler said.<\/p>\n<p>Menczer described how activists used technology to tweet and retweet fake news about President Barack Obama\u2019s health care reform plan, in an effort to target influential Twitter users. Such efforts can be detected, he said, but \u201cby that time the damage is already done. The trick is, can we detect it early, before the damage is done?\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\r\n\n<p>Tim Hwang, chief scientist of the Pacific Social Architecting Corp., discussed his team\u2019s efforts to create social media bots that were so effective that people often engaged them in long conversations. (Sample bot response being, \u201cThat\u2019s so interesting. Tell me more.\u201d) To prevent manipulation, \u201cYou should treat social networks like computer networks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those who spread misinformation are sincere in that they actually believe that there is no global warming or that vaccines cause health problems. However, there are some Machiavellis out there. Melanie Sloan, director of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.citizensforethics.org\/\">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<\/a>, discussed a media baron who she says created at least 25 non-profit \u201ceducation\u201d groups\u00a0 (such as one that debunks the \u201cmyth of childhood obesity\u201d) that are staffed by his PR agency. The public, she said, is not aware of the massive funding behind advocacy groups.<\/p>\n<p>Even journalists can be blinded by their own mindsets, said Kai Wright, a writer and editorial director of Colorlines.com, citing the time in 2006 when some people\u2019s fortunes were booming due to the stock market, while poorer communities were suffering from predatory lending. Should then a reporter say the economy is good or bad? \u201cThe media has done a poor job of reporting the truth because they only look at a narrow set of facts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Even if myriad tweets put out the facts, many people may not believe them. Chris Mooney, author of the forthcoming book \u201cThe Republican Brain,\u201d admitted even he had been deceived by the traditional Enlightenment view of reality, the idea that putting out clear, well-reasoned information changes minds. It turns out that the brain doesn\u2019t work that way, he said. Indeed, the smarter you are, he said, the less likely you are to change your mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more capable you are of coming up with an argument that supports your belief, the less likely you are to change,\u201d he said, even if you are only rationalizing, not reasoning. \u201cThere is a science of why we deny science,\u201d Mooney said. \u201cThere is a science of truthiness.<\/p>\n<p>Often, said Brendan Nyhan, assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, people \u201cdouble down\u201d on their beliefs. And if you restate false claims while debunking them (as in a health brochure on vaccines), you may \u201cmake the claims more familiar, and now they seem more true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the day was not all gloom: Potter noted that through a social media groundswell, Bank of America did not implement an unpopular new fee. Hwang said bots could also be deployed to detect other bots. During the lively question-and-answer session, Panagiotis Metaxas, a Wellesley computer science professor, said, \u201cI trust crowds quite a bit. They are too big to be bought.\u201d Through technology, crowds can be formed, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen Hall Jamieson, communication professor at the Annenberg School, said the public and journalists should be made aware of methods of fear mongering. Citing her new site, Flackcheck.org, Jamieson urged the audience to push broadcasters to check the veracity of third-party ads before airing them. \u201cYou can learn to detect the patterns of deception,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Video of the symposium will be posted on the <a href=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/\">Berkman Center\u2019s sit<\/a>e.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":164879,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/01\/truth-vs-truthiness\/","url_meta":{"origin":104375,"position":0},"title":"Truth vs. \u2018truthiness\u2019","author":"harvardgazette","date":"January 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner discusses the time-tested values of truth, beauty, and goodness in a three-part lecture series at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/010615_gardner_726_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/010615_gardner_726_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/010615_gardner_726_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":164501,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2014\/12\/pointing-toward-athens-2-0\/","url_meta":{"origin":104375,"position":1},"title":"Pointing toward Athens 2.0","author":"harvardgazette","date":"December 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard will partner with Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and The Boston Globe for a new, weeklong festival of big ideas and bold solutions next October.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/121214_hub_079.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/121214_hub_079.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/121214_hub_079.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136559,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2013\/04\/to-protect-serve-mourn\/","url_meta":{"origin":104375,"position":2},"title":"To protect, serve, mourn","author":"harvardgazette","date":"April 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Harvard University Police Department joined thousands of colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday to pay tribute to Sean Collier, the officer slain in aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/042413_mit_0486_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/042413_mit_0486_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/042413_mit_0486_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137489,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2013\/05\/cambridge-harvard-and-mit-sign-compact\/","url_meta":{"origin":104375,"position":3},"title":"Cambridge, Harvard, and MIT sign compact","author":"harvardgazette","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The city of Cambridge, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have signed a \u201cCommunity Compact for a Sustainable Future,\u201d aimed at leveraging the intellectual and entrepreneurial capacity of the public-private sectors in Cambridge to build a healthy, livable, and sustainable future.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/05063_sustainmit_0053_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/05063_sustainmit_0053_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/05063_sustainmit_0053_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15972,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2009\/06\/search-for-new-tuberculosis-drugs-outlined\/","url_meta":{"origin":104375,"position":4},"title":"Search for new tuberculosis drugs outlined","author":"harvardgazette","date":"June 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A new drug candidate that attacks the cell walls of tuberculosis bacteria offers a promising alternative in the fight against a disease that has been resurgent in the global age of AIDS, according to findings highlighted by a key researcher Friday (June 12) at the Broad Institute of Harvard and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":151052,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2014\/01\/ludwig-cancer-research-awards-hms-90m\/","url_meta":{"origin":104375,"position":5},"title":"Ludwig Cancer Research awards HMS $90M","author":"harvardgazette","date":"January 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Ludwig Cancer Research, on behalf of its founder, Daniel K. Ludwig, has given Harvard Medical School $90 million to spur innovative scientific inquiry and discovery. According to the Ludwig announcement, this new financial support is among the largest private gifts ever for cancer research.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/hms_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/hms_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/hms_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105622744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104375"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=104375"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=104375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}