Post on 21-Mar-2017
COMMUNICATING IN AN ERA OF SELF-VALIDATING FACTS
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
#factstalk
SXSW 2017
Is the media our magic mirror?
©Cayuga Productions and CBS
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
We see an accurate reflection:
our internal truths trump external data
©Cayuga Productions and CBS
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
If this is the post-fact era,
when was the fact era?
Rudy Giuliani, August 15, 2016, Youngstown Ohio Trump Foreign Policy Speech
Rudy Giuliani, August 15, 2016, Youngstown Ohio Trump Foreign Policy Speech
Inaccurate, but not inconsistent.
©Scott Olson Getty Images; from Fox Business with Neil Cavuto interview
©Scott Olson Getty Images; from Fox Business with Neil Cavuto interview
©Scott Olson Getty Images; from Fox Business with Neil Cavuto interview
©Scott Olson Getty Images
©Scott Olson Getty Images; excerpt from August 15, 2016 foreign policy speech
©Scott Olson Getty Images; I’m paraphrasing, but c’mon.
All these things are true
even if they didn’t happen.
©Justin Lane European Pressphoto Agency; excerpted from https://nytimes.com/2017/01/30/technology/donald-trump-social-networks-protests.html
Consistency is an internal metric.
Does this information align with my
viewpoint?
@mbloomstein | #factstalk 15
Consistency is an internal metric.
Does this brand make me feel good
about myself?
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
History isn’t memory,
accuracy isn’t consistency—
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
History isn’t memory,
accuracy isn’t consistency—
and inconsistency didn’t cause
Trump to lose MORE.
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
©Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images; Fox News Sunday
©Politico
We see what we want to see
©Cayuga Productions and CBS
Trust emerges not from honesty, but
from consistency—with how we believe
Validation Deliberation
Courage in our convictions
Empirical proof
“Feels right” is accurate >
©Cayuga Productions and CBS
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Does inner confirmation bias replace
outward faith in the institutions we
traditionally trusted as arbiters of truth?
Insert gut check cycle image Can we blame the Right Wing Media?
©Fox News
Insert gut check cycle image Coached skepticism? False equivalency?
©Fox News
Insert gut check cycle image
©CBS
Insert gut check cycle image
©National Enquirer
Insert gut check cycle image
©Mary Ann Chastain, Associated Press
Media may not hold people accountable,
but they can hold US accountable to our
own internal beliefs, values, & identities.
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
©Jana Birchum for The Austin Chronicle; from March 12, 2017 panel Good Night and Good Luck: Media in Election Years at SXSW
What can we do to shift beliefs when
feelings trump facts?
@mbloomstein | #factstalk 36
How we form our beliefs matters more
than what we believe
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
How we form our beliefs matters more
than what we believe
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Cultural predisposition
How we form our beliefs matters more
than what we believe
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Cultural predisposition confirmation bias
Earn attention through novelty
Trojan horse on feels-right opposition
Fit new ideas to old values for relevance
@mbloomstein | #factstalk 40
Invest in original content and reporting
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Couple with analysis of others’ research
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Host opposing viewpoints
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Host opposing viewpoints
©Comedy Central
ADD OUTSIDE YOUR BUBBLE
© Yunghi Kim, Contact Press
Invite insight, don’t just present logic
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Join discussions, don’t just dole out facts
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Blog excerpt ©Design Mom/Gabrielle Blair
Give the opposition a seat at the table to
create new perspectives that appeal not
to what we know, but to what we value.
© YouTube
All these things are true
even if they didn’t happen.
Thank you!
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
margot@appropriateinc.com
http://amzn.to/CSatWork
http://slideshare.net/mbloomstein
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
margot@appropriateinc.com
Books: http://amzn.to/CSatWork
BrandSort: http://cards.appropriateinc.com
Talks: http://slideshare.net/mbloomstein