Community Forum: Misinformation a Web address away
Editor:
Would any person, following a diagnosis requiring an imminent need for a major surgery, enlist the services of an unknown person lacking medical training, being uncertified, unlicensed and having no medical office? I would think not! Yet, just one step from that situation is the person who has lost any desire or ability to analyze all facets of a situation. This person is perfectly content to sit before a computer seeking advice from, you guessed it, an unknown person possibly lacking formal education, has no subject training, has not researched the presented subject and has presented information copied from someone unknown to him/her.
Both oral and written issuances from this material is readily apparent to others due to the same old, same old rhetoric that presents no viable solution nor a basis of informative content to promote intelligent discourse.
Should we all be reminded of some pitfalls inherent within this amazing electronic age of information and misinformation?
Absolutely. Knowing that anyone is able to say or write anything either reasonable or objectionable via the Internet does not seem to deter some viewers from reproducing its
material either as a declared fact or sometimes as their own personal thoughts. Just remember, a fancy or important-looking Web page does not guarantee it to be a reliable source of information. It may well be created by one person with an undesirable intent, reproducing other nonfactual sources and thereby causing multiple copies of additional sites all claiming to be a reliable source of authentic reference.
One example popularly appearing within the nation’s political field, of criticizing current legislation, is not new, but certainly can be introduced to the public more quickly through the broadcast and electronic media.
The political speech writers are keenly aware that a misleading statement concerning just one facet of a popular pending legislation, even though likely to be amended or deleted, will
linger on the Internet in perpetuity.
Thus, this false information will continue to be repeated as fact long past the final contradictory wording of the subject.
In most cases, we will find that one side of a discussion will quote the actual intent and wording of a subject as a means to dispute questionable statements by the other. Then it
becomes our responsibility to seek out multiple sources for the answers. Do your homework, then speak out.
Jack Stevic,
Harlingen
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