Monday, January 14, 2013

Media Delight: Conspiracy Theories and Other Melicious Misinformation

The Newtown shootings were a hoax, a conspiracy for the government to take away our guns.  Right.  Give me a break.  The source or catalyst for the conspiracy seems to be a tenured faculty member at Florida Atlantic UniversityJames Tracy, Ph.D.  This hitting the news now is so wrong in so many ways.

The challenge to prevent mass shootings is complex with so many different factors that are creating these monster shooters.  It is hard enough to get an intelligent discussion going without adding sensationalism to the mix.  But the press continues to hunt out unique individuals who don't mind being the tattoo lady in the circus.  The reason? Well, we like to read about them.  That is what the media does, attract viewers.  That is how they pay the bills and we watch, read or listen for free.

However, we are in a very important debate about what we need to accomplish to stop mass murders.  One of the first things I learned in negotiations is that you cannot irritate and persuade at the same time. These issues being taken seriously when the media promotes them for entertainment is irritating   We have to stop and think about what we are doing.

Lets use Dr. Tracy as an example.  He is a tenured college professor.  This means he has achieved a certain level of expertise in his field and his department and university have rewarded him with tenure.  This also means he can teach and conduct research in a manner in which he feels is best.  He is not guaranteed a job forever, he still needs to show he is continuing on a productive professional path.  His area of expertise is in communications.

Why what he says is not valid research or knowledge that can be repeated as fact or truth.

Publishing:  In order for any theory or research findings or even a professional opinion must be submitted to a panel of peers who discuss the method of research or gathering knowledge to judge if the methods to produce this knowledge was valid..  Dr. Tracey published on a personal blog which has no peer review or academic standing.  He can write anything he wants, his writing is just his opinion, not valid facts.  The National Enquirer is a magazine that has no standard or evaluating the truth of articles.

References:  In academics, all statements need to be backed up with resources, other researches' findings from research, primary source material and other resources that are clearly documented so anyone can also check the material to conduct an interpretation for themselves.  For instance, if I say the glaciers are melting I would have to give some reliable or valid source.  I measured some in Iceland so I can say this.  However I can only say that the glacier I measured was melting and suggest that it is probable that others were melting.

Working for a university as a tenured professor does not qualify you to be an expert in everything.  Trust me.  I work in one.  At a time like this, we need informed, intelligent conversations coming from thoughtful sources.

We are talking about serious life altering issues:
  • How we report, interpret and make available mental health records and then restrict constitutional rights from those that we tag as mentally deficient.  
  • Whether or not to take firearms away from people who enjoy the sport, take away someone's livelihood: store owners, range owners, gun smiths, manufacturers, dealers, collectors, investors.and those in the accessory industry like holsters, ammunition, belts, cleaning supplies, purses, clothing, targets, binoculars, sights, parts, shoes, hats, and purple finger nail polish.  
  • Challenging constitutional rights that have worked to make us a strong nation.  
  • Arming and training over 7 million teachers and hiring over 100,000 security guards (if every school just got one the true figure would be closer to 300,000 is my prediction) to protect over 75 million school children.
All of the actions resulting from our debates will have life altering results on millions of good, law abiding citizens.  We need everyone, the press, legislators, gun owners, metal health activists,  educators and the general public to take this conversation as seriously as it is.

Everyone needs to stop and think:  If I repeat this information am I persuading or am I irritating?

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