Larry D. Lauer

The 24/7 cable news and social media revolution has changed political campaigning in many ways. One of the most troublesome developments is the acceptance of deliberate and  incessant lying.

How important is it to you that your candidate tells you the truth? And what can be done when everyone starts making outrageous claims just because everyone else is doing it?

In past years I remember hearing that kind of “group-think” from well-meaning fans about cheating in intercollegiate athletics. But when a game changes to rationalize lies and partial truths as acceptable what happens to the game, and the fans?

In today’s instant digital media environment there is a  growing acknowledgement that the more a lie is repeated the more it begins to sound true. One lie enables more lies, and  suddenly everyone is following with their own outrageous claims. Otherwise they fear the news media will ignore them.

How then should responsible journalists respond to such a situation? The accepted approach seems to be to ask one tough question and then leave the response unchallenged.  The thought is that challenging the truth is the other candidates’ responsibility… or at least someone else’s. After all, there are a number of “fact checker” websites that can be consulted. But truthfully, how many average voters are consulting them… or even know they exist?

Given the intensity of the situation, should we be expecting responsible journalists to be questioning outrageous  statements more aggressively? Should they be pushing newsmakers on the spot to substantiate suspicious claims? Or is reporting the drama of continuous political fighting, shouting, and poll fluctuations just too good for the business of media, i.e. just too good for tomorrow’s readership and ratings?

Whatever you think, I think now more than ever media literacy education is needed in schools, colleges, PTA’s, professional associations, community organizations, and everywhere possible. Citizens need to become their own editors and fact checkers. Even news organizations could be doing more to explain how they see their role and what consumers can do to find the truth.

In fact, I believe that leaders at all levels in all organizations should be analyzing all this and noting how media and technology revolutions change everything… inside and out!