Workshop on
Key Issues in the (Dis-)Information Wars

In theory, you should get through 4 lessons each day, but the way I have set the workshop up you work at your own pace.

As you go through the workshop and you recall a source that I should see or which would be helpful for my research, please send me an email (tfroehli@kent.edu)
with the name and/or link of the resource.

• Note: I advise you to print a copy of the slides before viewing the Voice-over PowerPoint so you can take notes when following the lecture.



• Introduction to the Age of Disinformation (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (33 minutes).

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 1.

• Discussion 1: Post on discussion chat your response to one of the following questions:

1. If you feel comfortable or to the egree that you feel comfortable, please introduce yourself to the workshop participants. What motivated you to take the workshop?
2. What aspects of the Age of Disinformation do you find personally challenging? If you are uncomfortable tallking about personal information, then refer to a generic person and the challenges they have in facing the Age of Disinformation.
3. What aspects of the Age of Disinformation do you find professionally challenging?
4. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

• Varieties of Ignorance and False Information (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (31 minutes).

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 2.

• Discussion 2: Post on discussion chat your response to one of the following questions:

1. Using the taxonomy of false information (lies, ignorance, paltering, misinformation, disinformation, missing information, malinformation, doxing), find 2 different examples for each of 4 of the categories.
2. As librarians or information professionals, what obligations, if any, do you have for combating fake news, doxing, misinformation, disinformation, paltering, etc.?
3. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

• Psychological Considerations (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (35 minutes).



• Supplemental Reading:

  1. Supplemental Reading: Deception.

  2. Supplemental Reading: Psychological Factors.

  3. Discussion 3: Post on discussion chat your response to one of the following four questions:

  1. Can you think of ways you may be involved in behaviors or beliefs that can be described as social self-deception, either in your experience or on the web?
  2. Can you point to any instances of collective self-deception? For example, there are a variety of beliefs on the right. For example, can it be argued that the white evangelicals' view that Trump was appointed by God in the manner of King Cyrus is a form of collective self-deception? Or that the passing of laws that reject Critical Race Theory (CRT) from teaching in schools is a form of racism? If you do not live in the United States, what are forms of racism that exist in your society?
  3. Use one or more of the cognitive biases discussed in the lecture [(1) the availability heuristic, (2) attentional bias, (3) illusory truth, (4) affect bias, (5) negativity bias, (6) anchoring, (7) confirmation bias, (8) the bandwagon effect, (9) stereotyping, (10) ingroup bias, (11) projection bias, (12) the Dunning-Kruger effect, and (13) the self-serving bias or any other kind that you might uncover, find instance(s)of cogntive bias being used for political manipulation. Original debunked Fake news stories can be found at any of the 10 best fact-checking sites for 2020 at Ten Best Fact Checking Sites for 2020.
  4. Alternatively,find a good article or resource on the web that discusses the use of cognitive biases to manipulate people for political or economic gain, and summarize some of its key points to the workshop participants.
  5. If you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

Lesson 4: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Second-Hand Knowledge

• Knowledge, Beliefs, and Second-Hand Knowledge (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (35 minutes).

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 3.

• Discussion 4: Post on discussion chat your response to one of the following four questions:

1. Can you think of any opinions that you have that could be turned into knowledge? How? For example, if you believe that the coronavirus is cured with Flonase (pick any other fake claim), you can do the research using reliable sources to show this is a case of fake news. Consider some other fake news stories or memes and how to work out whether the claim is credible or not. Use a specific case.
2. Name some of your personal and/or professional cognitive authorities. On which subjects do you trust each of them? How do you justify your trust in them? Were they always reliable? What kind/level of expertise do that have that make them sufficiently trustworthy for given subject domain? Be as specific as possible.
3. Who or what are your cognitive authorities in media (e.g., newspapers, television or cable channel, or social media site)? Do they exhibit a bias? See mediabiasfactcheck for an evaluation of variious media sources on the right, left and center(mostly USA sources). Do you think that you use them to bolster your view (as confirmation bias)? Or are their claims and sources sufficiently factual?
4. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

• Cogntive Authorities (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (60 minutes).

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 5.

• Discussion 5: Post on discussion chat your response to the one of the following questions, considering the key criteria of credibility, trustworthiness and expertise:

1. Who are your personal cognitive authorities? Is your trust in them justified or justifiable?
2. Who or what are your professional cognitive authorities (resources or persons)? Is your trust in them justified or justifiable?
3. Apart from Fox News, what other false cognitive authorities have a role in spreading misinformation or disinformation and inflaming their adherents? If you are not in the USA, discuss the false cogntive authorities that do so in your country.
4. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

• Social Media (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (22 minutes).

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 6.

• Discussion 6: Post on discussion chat your response to the one of the following questions:

1. Discuss briefly or outline the role of intellectual freedom in the Age of Disinformation, its benefits, and drawbacks, using key ideas from the lecture or your experience.
2. Can you provide specific examples of social media in your experience and/or in web sites that exhibit extensive levels of disinformation, bias, deceit or conspiracy theories?
3. For manipulated videos, see "Seeing Isn't Believing, The Fact Checker's guide to manipulated video," The Washington Post (2109). Outline many of the cases found in this video.
4. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

Lesson 7: Attention Merchants, Persuasive Technologies and Surveillance Capitalism and the Decline of Critical Thinking.

• Attention Merchants (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint. (26 minutes).

• Discussion 7: Post on discussion chat your response to the one of the following questions:

1. How addicted are you to your smartphone? Do you use your phone for distraction? What are the good features and bad features of information technologies, such as computers and smartphones and their apps in your experience?
2. Find some good resources on the web about pesuasive technologies, attention merchants and surveillance capitalism and summarize some key points for the discussion thread.
3. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

• Information Literacy (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint. (50 minutes). Unfortunately, I received two phone calls during the recording (toward the end) and I don't have the time to rerecord or edit them out, so be wary of them.

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 7.

Lecture on Media and Digital Literacy (forthcoming).

• Media Literacy (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (44 minutes).

• Discussion 8: Post on discussion chat your response to the one of the following questions:

1. Given your professional demands, what strategies, inlcuding library programs if you have them, are the best for you to promote information and/or media literacy?
2. List some internet resources that you have found that are particularly good (well-developed, accessible to patrons) for promoting information literacy.
3. List some internet resources that you have found that are particularly good (well-developed, accessible to patrons) for promoting media literacy.
4. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lectures, pose it for discussion.

These lessons are somewhat dated. They often refer to the Trump presidency before he lost the election, but the principles are still relevant.

Lesson 9: Violations of Ethical Principles

• Ethical Principles (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (30 minutes).

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 9.

• If you are interested in more detail about my approach to ethical principles, see the lecture and slide presentation:

• Ethics Lecture Slides

• Voiceover PowerPoint Presentation

• Discussion 9: Post on discussion chat your response to the one of the following questions:

1. Given the background of the lecture, find a action, event or policy that violates one or more ethical principles. Explain which one(s) and why. Try to be as specific as possible.
2. List some internet resources that you can find that promote the application of ethical principles to current events.
3. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

Lesson 10: Logical Fallacy Literacy

• Logical Fallacies (pdf).

• Voice-over PowerPoint (43 minutes).

• Supplemental Reading: Lesson 10.

• Two short articles:

• "Analyzing Trump: 15 Logical fallacies in 3 Minutes" (2016), March 6, 2016. The title seems odd, because the Voice-over PowerPoint is 22 minutes. It represents Trump's ability to so rapidly commit a myriad of fallacies.

• Discussion 10: Post on discussion chat your response to the one of the following questions:

1. Given the background of the lecture, find a action, event or policy that commits a logical fallacy (ies). Explain which one(s) and why. Try to be as specific as possible. Many of the political speeches of the current administration is likely to be a good source.
2. List some internet resources that you can find that promote the analysis of logical fallacies to current events.
3. Alternatively, if you want to discuss a different, but significant, issue raised by the lecture, pose it for discussion.

• Spot the Flaw in a Politician's Argument With This Guide to Logical Fallacies. Lou, Lily. (June 23, 2017).