At some point, you have believed misinformation. You may bristle at the idea that you have ever fallen for a falsehood, but you have. Every person has. When you realize that you’re wrong, you probably just quietly, without any announcement, switched your stance, because it’s unlikely people around you knew that you thought something was true that wasn’t. If you cannot admit this, it’s going to be very hard for you to counter misinformation in, say, public health, because you will set yourself apart and above the majority of people.

I fell for misinformation about vaccines back in 2007, because of CNN broadcaster Larry King. I was living in Germany and I watched copious amounts of CNN International because it was one of only two-English language TV channels I had. One of the programs they showed was Larry King Live. I naively thought that people booked on his program were vetted. I assumed anyone who got on his show to talk about health, the environment, crime, whatever, had been screened, to make sure they really were appropriate to talk about those subjects, and that they had some sort of doctor or scientist they consulted to make sure someone wasn’t saying something dangerous on the show. So when Larry King hosted TV personality Jenny McCarthy and actress Holly Robinson Peete in 2007, talking about how they believed vaccines had caused their children to have autism, I believed what was being said. I didn’t say anything to anyone – at least I hope I didn’t – but the belief was there.

Then I stumbled onto the Bad Astronomy web site, a blog by scientist and skeptic Phil Plait – he probably got a shout out on fark.com and that’s how I started reading him. I started reading back issues of the blog and, low and behold, there was his thorough, merciless debunking of the myth that vaccines cause autism and his specific condemnation of Jenny McCarthy.

I will never forget reading his blog and realizing I had been duped. I literally stared at my computer screen, not moving, for at least a full minute. I was horrified. And then, I was angry.

Larry King had Jenny McCarthy on his show eight times. EIGHT TIMES. How many parents chose not to get their children vaccines because of that? How many children contracted preventable diseases because of that? How many children were permanently disabled or died because of that? It was then I realized what The New York Times later wrote in its obituary for King: “crackpot inventors, conspiracy theorists and spiritual mediums loved his show, which let them reach huge audiences without facing challenging questions.”

I wanted to link to Phil’s specific blogs that made me realize that I had been duped, but the site is pretty much defunct, and searches on the Internet Wayback Machine weren’t helpful. So, here’s a 2008 article he wrote for Discover Magazine that says much of what those blogs said, to my memory.

I share this story of being duped when I do trainings for international visitors through the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program through World Oregon. And there is always a look of shock and incredulity. One person asked, “Aren’t you embarrassed to share this story?” Yes, I’m ashamed that I fell for something any sensible person now knows is nonsense. But it’s important to acknowledge that being duped can happen to anyone.

Knowing when you have been duped, and acknowledging it, even just to yourself, will help you better address misinformation in your own communications efforts – professional or otherwise.

Also see:

• Preventing Folklore, Rumors (or Rumours), Urban Myths, & Organized Misinformation Campaigns From Interfering with Development & Aid/Relief Efforts & Government Initiatives, one of the first online resources regarding this subject, frequently updated.
• How Wikipedia’s volunteers became the web’s best weapon against misinformation.
• UN Initiative seeks “Information Volunteers”.
• Harms caused by persuasive technologies – what your nonprofit needs to know.
• The Trust Crisis.

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