The Age of DisInformation
The Internet is changing our information space. Accessing information has never been so easy. Media distribution has been facilitated at remarkable speeds, but so to has the spread of lies.
Indeed, in 2014 the World Economic Forum polled its 1500-member Network of Global Agenda Council to rank the world’s most pressing trends. Among the top 10 was the “rapid speed of misinformation online.”
How did the Internet change traditional media coverage? Are journalists and consumers really equipped to sort through fact and fiction in real time? Are we aware of just how much the media environment has changed? Can we compete with the slick psychological savvy of propagandists?
This series of articles explores a few of the ways the information environment – and media as a result – are changing and how this is contributing to an Age of Disinformation. Drawing from original research as well as other sources, we’ll consider:
- How content is changing;
- How we participate in the spread of (dis)information;
- Types of deliberate disinformation; as well as,
- Means for tackling the misinformation problem.
Read Posts in The Age of (Dis)information Series

What is (Dis)information?
At the risk of being terribly obvious, (dis)information, with the brackets, is a play on…

The Business of Catching Attention
As exciting as the dawn of the Internet has been for most, it has been…

You’ve Got a Friend in News
The Internet has facilitated engagement. This goes beyond commenting on articles to actively sharing information…

We All Distort Information
Looking a the public side of things, in other words, us, that’s just it; we…

Media: Information Laundering Machine
There are varying degrees of disinformation – from the cropped and filtered photo to digital…

Establishment Fibs & Fears
More difficult to discern are those mistruths that are fed from positions of power. Even…

Wishful Thinking & Propaganda
We want to believe things that confirm our existing viewpoints, and propagandists know this. The…

What is to be Done? Countering Propaganda
Disinformation is everywhere – it is entrenched in our information environment. While disinformation is pervasive…