URI_Research _Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2020_Melissa-McCarthy

“The capability to completely alter reality, is the most insidious threat to the media ecosystem yet.”

Jason Jaacks Assistant Professor Multimedia Journalism

- Jason Jaacks

Thousands of scientists are funded by taxpayers through federal agencies to conduct vital, credible research that should directly inform public policy decisions, and yet they are censored by political leaders and prevented from discussing the implications of their work in clear, plain language for public understanding. stories, Jaacks says some degree of tension always has existed in the communication process — a struggle between journalists striving to engage a broad audience, finding the so-called hook to grab people’s interest, and scientists who want the focus to be on research data and the process. In some cases, collaboration can strike a balance, Jaacks says, but often the two perspectives can be at odds and important details get lost in translation. “Scientists are always disappointed in the amount of background, context and qualifying statements that journalists are willing to provide, which makes sense because most journalists aim to write for the ninth-grade reading level,” Jaacks says.

WEAPONIZING INFORMATION URI Assistant Professor Jason Jaacks, who teaches multimedia journalism and film media in the Harrington School of Communication and Media, sees reporting on climate change as having been weaponized for political purposes, with scientific evidence being dismissed if not outright hidden or buried. At the same time, in what Jaacks calls “the shadow side of information in the digital age,” people can access information immediately, which may be either fact-based or fabricated, and without any independent verification of the information provided. “If the fake information is instantly available, it’s harder to prove legitimate truthfulness,” Jaacks says, citing propaganda by the anti-vaxxer movement as an example where anti-vaccination proponents have spread “facts” with no legitimate underlying credibility, and yet far too many people have been influenced in their decision-making by such false information and uninformed belief. Jaacks is an ardent believer in our constitutional First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Still, the politicizing and weaponizing of information has led to a brutal attack on the truth and either unproductive or harmful partisan political rancor.

In terms of achieving accuracy in telling science

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