Rebuilding Trust
How do we regain what we've lost?
How can we rebuild the trust which has been lost in our institutions, authority figures, mainstream news outlets, scientific experts, and in even the existence of “truth itself?” Another way to phrase the last part of this question is, “How can we overcome nihilism?” These are big, difficult, and important questions. As teachers, parents, citizens, and members of our communities, these are questions we need to take seriously and should care about deeply.
In many ways in the United States in the summer of 2021, we are experiencing the devastating effects of a powerful (and ongoing) “psychological operation” (PSYOP) which is challenging the foundations of our civil society as well as representative democracy.1 Large numbers of people in our country disagree about big topics like the benefits and desirability of vaccines, the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, the reliability of our voting systems, the authority of our judicial court systems, and what sources can be trusted (or not trusted) when it comes to news and current events. Historically we’ve always had lots of disagreement about issues and even values in our nation, but what is new and disturbing is the radically different perceptions of FACTS which large numbers of people have today. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, reading and listening this summer about these topics, and I’d like to reflect a little on what I’ve learned and what we need to do together.
The warning signs of this widespread loss of trust in institutions and traditional sources of authority are all around us and have been for years. “Public Trust in Government” is something the PEW Research Center has been tracking for years, and its May 2021 report, “Public Trust in Government: 1958-2021” shows that we are close to all-time historic lows in our shared trust perceptions. 2
Since 1973, Gallop has measured and tracked U.S citizen perceptions of trust in a wide variety of institutions including the church / organized religion, the US Supreme Court, Congress, the military, public schools, big business, organized labor, and more. 3 Those statistics reflect similar trend lines: U.S. citizens trust institutions less and less each year. The U.S. military is trusted more than other institutions, but it reflects a non-elected segment of our society, and its levels of public trust have also fallen over the years.
Conspiracy theories have been part of our society and cultural conversations for centuries, but the velocity with which these theories can be shared around our planet and the degree to which even outlandish ideas can be amplified via social media (ones I term, “Fruit Loop Conspiracies” in our 6th grade media literacy unit on this topic) is unprecedented.4 A summer 2021 survey by the Economist and YouGov revealed that approximately twenty percent (1 in 5) U.S. citizens today over age 18 believe the U.S. government is using COVID-19 vaccines to microchip our population. 5 This claim is complete bunk, but a fifth of our fellow citizens may believe it’s true.6 I learned earlier this summer one of our neighbors, who otherwise appears to be intelligent and reasonable, is among those “COVID vaccine microchip believers.”
Anti-COVID vaccination beliefs are widespread along with a rejection of “mainstream media sources” (i.e. perceived ‘liberal news sources like CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc.) for information about current events and health. The open distain which President Donald Trump had (and still maintains out of office) for these news sources has been embraced by many conservative voters. 7 As I shared recently regarding a conversation with a VA lab technician here in Oklahoma City, it’s disturbingly easy to find people in our communities who choose to believe YouTube influencers and others on social media rather than mainstream / established news outlets or even scientific authorities like the surgeon general of the United States or officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. 8
I recently visited with a friend who is struggling to counter misinformation and disinformation his 85 year old grandmother is hearing every evening on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on FoxNews. 9 On a daily basis, she is getting emotionally upset over different “current events” discussed and highlighted on the program, but many of these are either more nuanced situations or misrepresented in a way that many conservative viewers (like her) are likely to find both offensive and riveting to watch. “The Brainwashing of My Dad” is “a 2015 American documentary film directed by Jen Senko about her father's transformation from a nonpolitical Democrat into a political Republican” by FoxNews. 10 While that documentary was released six years ago, the dynamics it highlights are even more widespread and severe today. As social media as well as our access to diverse channels of broadcast media has enabled us to “live in our bubbles” or “echo chambers,” it has become easier to select a news media diet which is highly polarized and in some cases, blatantly manipulative. 11
So how do we move forward in these polarized and difficult times, both individually and as a society?
Some researchers and academics suggest a larger investment in public broadcasting may be a path forward. 12 As long as large segments of our society “marinate” in news media sources which present diametrically opposed viewpoints of reality (was the 2020 U.S. election “stolen” from Donald Trump, or did he lose in a fair and justly managed electoral process?) it is challenging to see how representative democracy can function well. In a relatively “free and open society” as we have in the United States (certainly relative to many other countries in the world) people need to be encouraged, rather than forced, to embrace different media sources for their diet of current events. Perhaps if, like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom, government invests more public dollars in news outlets which strive to model the highest ideals of ethical journalism, more citizens in our country might choose to listen less to polarizing and overtly manipulative media voices. 13
Another path forward which seems clear to me is increasing our collective exposure to and participation in media literacy education. 14 We each need to grapple with questions about how we decide which news sources to trust, and how we vet information from those sources as well as others. The “SIFT” information literacy framework by Mike Caufield offers a practical, four part strategy which students as well as adults outside of school can employ to interrogate and evaluate information online and offline. 15 SIFT is a cornerstone strategy of media literacy I share and teach my middle school students in our multi-part 6th grade unit on conspiracy theories as well as in other conversations throughout the year about “how we decide what to believe and who to trust online.” 16
To rebuild trust in our institutions and our leaders, we also need to build trust in our neighbors. Finding ways to see and celebrate the things we have in common and share, not just follow the encouragement of some voices to focus on our differences and what can divide us, also must be an essential part of our collective strategy moving forward. As shared spaces for cultivating both understanding and empathy, public and private schools have vital roles to play in this process. Churches, civic organizations, and sports gatherings all have potentially important roles to play as well.
What do you think we can and should do collectively as well as individually to move forward in this process of trust rebuilding? Clearly we need ethical, intelligent, collaborative, and humble public servants who can lead us down this path into the future. Perhaps you need to consider running for a local, regional or national elective office? Or maybe you just need to personally contact one of your own government officials and ask to have coffee?
Our lives and our world are changed one conversation at a time. Trust is based on relationships, and relationships require both time and the investment of attention as well as energy to develop.
May your week ahead be filled with good conversations with family, colleagues and strangers seeking to build mutual understanding, empathy and trust. Let us all select our trusted media sources carefully, and seek to both build our own media literacy skills and share them with others with whom we have contact.
The future is our story which we can write together.
If you enjoyed these ideas by Wesley Fryer, please share them! Subscribe to Wes’ Substack on Media Literacy (this newsletter) if you have not already. Also check out more ways to learn and connect with Wes on wesfryer.com/after/.
“Q Into the Storm.” Wikipedia, 26 July 2021. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Q_Into_the_Storm&oldid=1035591614. (See Episode 5 specifically, and conversations about US Major General (Ret) Paul E. Valley at 26:15)
NW, 1615 L. St, et al. “Public Trust in Government: 1958-2021.” Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy, 17 May 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/05/17/public-trust-in-government-1958-2021/.
Andrews, Colman. “What Public Institution Do Americans Trust More than Any Other? Hint: It’s Not the Media.” USA TODAY, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/08/military-is-public-institution-americans-trust-most/39663793/. Accessed 29 July 2021.
Fryer, Wesley. Middle Division Technology - Conspiracy Theories. https://mdtech.casady.org/lessons/conspiracy-theories. Accessed 29 July 2021.
Romaine, Jenna. “Alarming Number of Americans Think Vaccines Contain Microchips to Control People.” TheHill, 19 July 2021, https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/563669-alarming-number-of-americans-think-vaccines.
“Fact Check: RFID Microchips Will Not Be Injected with the COVID-19 Vaccine, Altered Video Features Bill and Melinda Gates and Jack Ma.” Reuters, 4 Dec. 2020. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-vaccine-microchip-gates-ma-idUSKBN28E286.
Robertson, Katie. “New York Post to Staff: Stay Away From CNN, MSNBC, New York Times and Washington Post.” The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2021. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/business/media/ny-post-aggregation-fake-news.html.
Moving at the Speed of Creativity | When We Disagree on Facts. https://www.speedofcreativity.org/2021/07/21/when-we-disagree-on-facts/. Accessed 29 July 2021.
“Tucker Carlson.” Wikipedia, 27 July 2021. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tucker_Carlson&oldid=1035821519.
“The Brainwashing of My Dad.” Wikipedia, 21 July 2021. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Brainwashing_of_My_Dad&oldid=1034794746.
Fryer, Wesley. Some People Try to Pull Your Strings with Information. 29 July 2021. Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/wfryer/51344082286/.
“The Role of Public Broadcasting.” The Disinformation Age: Politics, Technology, and Disruptive Communication in the United States, Cambridge University Press, Oct. 2020, pp. 211–58, https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/disinformation-age/role-of-public-broadcasting/CFB7BEBE687F03E1849105B3214764AB.
West, Darrell M. “How to Combat Fake News and Disinformation.” Brookings, 18 Dec. 2017, https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-to-combat-fake-news-and-disinformation/.
Media Literacy Resources by @wfryer. https://medialiteracy.wesfryer.com/. Accessed 29 July 2021.
Caufield, Mike. “SIFT (The Four Moves).” Hapgood, 19 June 2019, https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/.
Fryer, Wesley. Middle Division Technology - Conspiracy Theories. https://mdtech.casady.org/lessons/conspiracy-theories. Accessed 29 July 2021.