I recall times in my childhood when I’d complain to Mom about painful bumps or annoying pimples on my tongue. Her immediate response was this one: “So what lie did you tell?” Then she’d encourage me to rinse my mouth with salt water. I can’t remember confessing to Mom many lies. (I’ve never been the lying kind.) Maybe I told a few when I was little, but I tried to limit my confessions after second grade to the confessional at church.
I learned years later that transient lingual papillitis, the fancy name for pimples on the tongue, is probably caused by eating spicy or acidic foods or burning the tongue — not from telling a lie. And that’s a very good thing for many people today. Truth, honesty, and integrity are in short supply these days. Take for example the doses of lies delivered to the residents of Russia: There’s no war in Ukraine. It is a special military operation through which the Russians are protecting the Ukrainians by eliminating the Nazis who have taken over their country. Putin and his cronies would have tongues plagued with pimples if lies resulted in TLP.
The tragedy in Russia is that “truth has become another front in Russia’s war” (as noted in a March 20, 2022, article in the New York Times). The claims of the Kremlin go unchallenged. Many people in Russia believe their government’s narrative. And why wouldn’t they? Briefly after the invasion began, Putin enacted a law to punish “fake news” disseminators with up to 15 years in prison. Government regulators of Russian media issued warnings not to refer to the war as a war. Those same regulators forced independent media sources — a radio station and television station — off the air.
Fortunately in the United States, we have a First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,” it says. What that means is that our government may not jail, fine, or impose civil liability on people or organizations based on what they say or what they write. There are exceptions. For example, you cannot shout “FIRE” in a crowded theater if there is no fire.
Russian civilians have also been denied access to Facebook, Twitter, TicToc, and Instagram. However, Russian authorities continue to use these platforms to disinform — to spread lies to — the world beyond Russia’s borders. It is encouraging that Ukrainian journalists, in spite of the conditions they’re enduring, continue to report the truth about what’s happening in their country. George Orwell, author of “Animal Farm” and “1984,” reminds us that “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Disinformation in wartime is as old as war itself. Consider the leaflet propaganda dropped during wars and conflicts around the world. The term propaganda carries both positive and negative connotations. According to my dictionary app, propaganda refers to “information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.” It can function for good.
Wikipedia provides details about the use of leaflets dropped by Western Europe and the United States Army Forces over Japan during World War II. Such “communication” was also dropped in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan (during both Soviet and NATO invasions). During the first Gulf War, coalition forces dropped leaflets that encouraged Iraqi troops not to fight. War historians claim the leaflets contributed to 87,000 Iraqi soldiers surrendering in 1991.
Advances in satellite, television, and radio technology, and social media have caused the demise of leaflet propaganda as a means of spreading news and warnings, misinformation and disinformation. Clearly the act of disseminating misinformation and disinformation has never been more prevalent than today.
Yes, there is a a difference. Disinformation is the “deliberate spread of misleading or biased information. It is manipulated narrative or facts.” Misinformation is simply “false information that is spread,” intentionally or unintentionally. Both terms are just other words for lies. If you listen to the news of right- or left-leaning networks, you will hear those terms used often. What frightens me is the abundance of lies spread by “news” outlets and reporters and anchors we are encouraged to believe. And because they say “trust us” or “we’re fair and balanced,” we believe.
Lies also come in the form of conspiracy theories, theories that reject the standard explanation for an event and instead credit a covert group or organization with carrying out some nefarious plot. There are people who believe the moon landing was a staged Hollywood event, that the Holocaust did not occur, that the earth is flat, and that election fraud determined the results of the 2020 presidential race. Each of these could be referred to as “the big lie,” but only the last one has garnered that title.
I’m afraid our free press is in danger. The previous administration has tagged certain media as the “enemy of the people” because they have revealed the lies told and continue to reveal them. As a result a large segment of our population has become truth deniers. The reality is that truth exists whether we acknowledge or accept it. The responsibility of discerning truth from lies is everyone’s responsibility. It’s irresponsible to believe everything we read or hear. And it’s dangerous to want to silence those telling the truth. That’s what authoritarian governments do.
Whether you choose to watch networks or read publications of a left or right leaning slant, you still need to do your homework. (Once a teacher, always a teacher. I still assign homework.) Don’t believe everything you hear or read. Listen to fact checkers. Be a fact checker. Do some research. Be a wise “news” consumer. We tend to be lazy; we tend to believe what we want to believe. Even alternative facts. (You remember that term used by a senior counselor to a former president, 2017-2020.)
Here’s the thing. I’ve heard it said that if a lie is told often enough, it becomes the truth. That’s not the case. People simply begin believing it’s true. Truth is not something malleable that can be altered or molded to suit our tastes. Truth is precious and should be treated as such. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated it best: “Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all.” We have an obligation to protect that treasure everywhere — in our homes and our governments and our media.
———
Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles written by a group of retired teachers — Ken Ballinger,, Billy Kreigh, Marianne Darr-Norman, and Anna Spalding. Their intent is to spur discussions at the dinner table and elsewhere. You may also voice your thoughts and reactions via The News-Banner’s letters to editor.
