How to Overcome Misinformation
As if there wasn’t already enough concern about misinformation and disinformation heading into the presidential election this fall, recent events seem to only magnify concerns about content and who to trust.
It may help you to know that PRSA has valuable resources to help us mitigate these issues and maintain trust with both our internal and external stakeholders.
Last month, I participated in a PRSA ethics officer chat titled “Tackling Misinformation.” Michael Cherenson, APR, Fellow PRSA, led the webinar, and he focused his message on simple tools that all of us can implement in our organizations.
Cherenson is a 33-year veteran in the public relations industry. His approach to combating misinformation includes the following:
● Build trust with audiences.
● Educate, engage, and communicate with audiences.
● Perform risk/threat assessments.
● Conduct “digital hygiene” on your channels.
● Participate in real-time listening and monitoring.
● Create a real-time response mechanism.
● Invest heavily in trust, relationships and a goodwill reservoir.
A resource recommended by Cherenson is a disinformation resource library provided by the Institute for Public Relations. Available on the website is a section titled “Combatting Disinformation,” where viewers can download a checklist to identify disinformation.
Free Guidebook
Available for free for PRSA members, “Tackling Misinformation: The Communications Industry Unites” is a 34-page PDF containing research and resources addressing this issue. The playbook describes what we can do to minimize the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) and how to stop the spread of misinformation.
-Ryan Johnson, Iowa Chapter Delegate and Ethics Chair
