Truth Decay is a non-fiction book by Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael D. Rich. Published by the RAND Corporation on January 16, 2018,The era of "truth decay": 12 things we still don't know about our weird time, Laura Hazard Owen, Nieman Lab, 2018-01-26 the book examines historical trends such as "yellow journalism" and "new journalism" to demonstrate that "truth decay" is not a new phenomenon in American society. The authors argue that the divergence between individuals over objective facts and the concomitant increase in the relative "volume and influence of opinion over fact" in civil and political discourse has historically proliferated American society and culminated in truth decay.
The term "truth decay" was suggested by Sonni Efron and adopted by the authors of the book to characterize four interrelated trends in American society.
Kavanagh and Rich describe the "drivers" of truth decay as cognitive prejudices, transformation of information systems, competing demands on the education system, and polarization. This has consequences on various aspects of American society. The authors argue that truth decay has engendered the deterioration of "civil discourse" and "political paralysis". This has culminated in an increasing withdrawal of individuals from institutional sites of discourse throughout modern American society.
Truth Decay was positively received by audiences. The book was a nonfiction bestseller in the United States. Indeed, Barack Obama included the "very interesting" book in his 2018 reading list. Further, it stimulated a panel discussion at the University of Sydney on the role of media institutions in society and the ways in which democratic governance and civic engagement can be improved.Truth Decay: Exploring the diminishing role of facts and analysis, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney, 2018-08-22
Publishing history Truth Decay was first published as a web-only book on January 16, 2018, by the RAND corporation. This allowed individuals to read the book online without incurring any costs. On 26 January 2018, physical copies of the book were also published by the RAND corporation and made available for order on websites such as Amazon and Apple Books.
The RAND corporation is a non-profit and nonpartisan research organization that is based in California. It is concerned about the social, economic and political dangers that truth decay poses to the decision-making processes of individuals in society. Kavanagh, a senior political scientist, has expressed concern that there is an increasing number of people in America and Europe are doubtful of climate change and the efficacy of vaccines.
The term truth decay In Chapter 1, Kavanagh and Rich introduce the term “truth decay”. The term “truth decay” was suggested by Sonni Efron and adopted by the authors of the book to characterize four interrelated trends in American society, including:
Increasing differences between individuals about objective facts; Increasing conflation of opinion and fact in discourse; Increasing quantity and authority of opinion rather than fact in discourse; and Diminishing faith in traditionally authoritative sources of reliable and accurate information.
Kavanagh and Rich differentiate truth decay from “fake news”. The authors argue that phenomena such as “fake news” have not, in themselves, catalyzed the shift away from objective facts in political and civil discourse. The authors allege that “fake news” constitutes an aspect of truth decay and the associated challenges arising from the diminishing faith in historically authoritative sources of accurate information such as government, media and education. Notwithstanding this distinction, the authors argue that the expression “fake news” has been intentionally deployed by politicians such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to diminish the accuracy and facticity of information promulgated by sources that do not align with their partisan position. In that context, the authors argue that a limited focus on phenomena such as “fake news” inhibits a vigorous analysis of the causes and consequences of truth decay in society.
Structure and major arguments Truth Decay is organized in six chapters and explores three historical eras — the 1890s, 1920s, and 1960s — for historical evidence of the four trends of Truth Decay. The authors argue that Truth Decay is “not a new phenomenon” as there has been a sustained increase in the volume and influence of opinion over fact throughout the last century.
Historical context In Chapter 3, the book explores three eras — the 1890s, 1920s, and 1960s — for historical evidence of the aforementioned four trends of truth decay in American society.
Gilded Age
First, the authors identify the 1880s–1890s as the "Gilded Age". This historical era commenced after the American Civil War and was punctuated by the industrialization of America. The introduction of printing technology increased the output of newspaper publishers. This stimulated competition within the newspaper publishing industry. In New York City, major newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst engaged in "yellow journalism" by deploying a sensationalist style of covering politics, world events and crime in order to fend off competitors and attract market share. The authors note that these publishers also deployed "yellow journalism" to advance the partisan political objectives of their respective news organizations. For example, in April 1898, the New York Journal owned by Hearst published a number of articles with bold headlines, violent images and aggrandized information to position the Cubans as "innocent" people being "persecuted by the illiberal Spanish" regime and thereby emphasize the propriety of America's intervention in the Spanish-American War to the audience. Thus, "yellow journalism" caused a conflation of opinions and objectively verifiable facts in society.
Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression Second, the authors identify the 1920s–1930s as the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. This historical era was renowned as another period of economic growth and development that catalysed significant changes in the American media industry. The authors argue that radio broadcasting and tabloid journalism emerged as a dramatized form of media that focused on news surrounding public figures such as politicians, actors, musicians and sports athletes as entertainment rather than reliable and accurate information for the audience to utilise in considered decision-making. As such, "jazz journalism" is alleged to have amplified the conflation of opinions and objectively verifiable facts in society.
The Civil Rights Movement Third, the authors identify the 1960s–1970s as the period of "civil rights and social unrest". This historical era was punctuated by America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Television news was used to disseminate information which portrayed the appropriateness and success of America's involvement in the Vietnam War to the audience. Kavanagh and Rich argue that this increasingly conflated opinion and objective facts to advance partisan objectives. The Civil Rights movement in the 1960s contributed to a transformation in news reporting. Journalists began to deploy first-person narration in their reporting of world events to illuminate the inequities faced by African American citizens who strived for recognition and civil rights. On its face, this incidence of "new journalism" increased the risk of reporters imbuing their work with personal biases. Nonetheless, Bainer suggests that "new journalism" also augmented reporting as it permitted journalists to disseminate information on matters without the hollow pretence of objective reporting.
Current drivers In Chapter 4, Kavanagh and Rich describe the "drivers" of the aforementioned four trends of truth decay as cognitive prejudices, transformation of information systems and cuts to the education sector.
Cognitive prejudices First, cognitive prejudices are described as systematic errors in rational thinking that transpire when individuals are absorbing information. Confirmation bias is the propensity to identify and prioritise information that supports a pre-existing worldview. This has a number of impacts on the process of individual decision-making. The authors argue that individuals consciously or unconsciously employ motivated reasoning to resist accepting information that challenges their pre-existing worldview. This causes the interface with invalidating information to further ingrain the partisan opinions of individuals. It is alleged by the authors that, in the long term, cognitive prejudices have created "political, sociodemographic, and economic polarisation" as individuals form cliques that are diametrically opposed in their worldview and communication, thereby attenuating the quality civil discourse in American society.
Transformation of information systems Second, the transformation of information systems refers to the surge in the "volume and speed of news" that is disseminated to individuals. The authors note that the move towards a "24-hour news cycle" has increased the number of competitors to traditional news organizations. This competition, it is said, has reduced profitability and compelled news organizations such as ABC and Fox to pivot from costly investigative journalism to sensationalized opinion as a less-costly method of attracting an audience. The increase in the quantity of opinion rather than objectively discernible fact in reporting is further exacerbated by the introduction of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. These social media platforms facilitate rapid access to, and dissemination of, opinion news to millions of users.
Cuts to the educational sector
Third, the authors allege that cuts to the educational sector have catalyzed a reduction in the critical thinking and media literacy education of individuals. Kavanagh and Rich argue that individuals utilise the information and critical thinking skills established in traditionally authoritative sites of discourse such as secondary schools and universities to make decisions. Financial constraints associated with the swelling federal budget deficit from 2010 to 2021 have precipitated cuts to the funding apportioned to the American education sector. The authors argue that this has meant that, in the face of the increasing volume of online news, fewer students have acquired the technical and emotional skills to identify the explicit and implicit biases of reporters and thereby critically assess the accuracy and reliability of information emanating from sources such as the government and media. Ranschaert uses data gained through a longitudinal study of social studies teachers to argue that the decline in individuals relying on teachers for authoritative information has serious implications for ability of the education system to act as a buffer against truth decay. The authors go further than Ranschaert by arguing that, in the long term, this has resulted in a constituency that is vulnerable to absorbing and promoting misinformation as the skill to delineate objective facts from misinformation has atrophied. In that context, the disparity between the media literacy education of students and the challenges posed by Internet technology is said to engender truth decay.
Current consequences In Chapter 5, Kavanagh and Rich describe the consequences of truth decay in America.
Deterioration of civil discourse in society