The Call of the Lullaby: Navigating Media during a Pandemic and Global Civil Rights Movement

As I’m sure you are well aware by now, all media has bias. It has an angle. As long as media relies on profit to survive, this will be the case. With every piece of information you come into contact with, you must ask yourself: what is this media outlet getting out of telling this story?

This makes navigating the news and social media incredibly difficult. It puts all the onus for critical thought on the viewer and preys on fear, anger, and other emotions to achieve its goals. This is why you feel exhausted if you regularly pay attention to the news cycle. You are being asked not only to be an informed citizen but also to question what’s in front of you in way that feels like it will unravel your trust in everything.

The fact of the matter is that we can’t all do that work all the time. We get tired; we get burned out. We only bother to read headlines. That’s human. The news cycle could not be designed to more effectively exhaust and overwhelm you.

But that doesn’t mean you should give up.

So, without further ado, here are some strategies to help you navigate the current information landscape.

Take frequent breaks from the news and social media.

You have likely heard this advice before, but it bears repeating. The longer you are committed to engaging with this information realm, the more depleted you will become and the less likely you are to recognize bias and problematic information.

Recognize that you have a personal bias toward what is easy.

While it is usually obvious when an article or news story is preying on fear or anger, there’s a much more subtle tactic employed that preys on hope. This tactic will try to convince you that the situation is not as bad as it seems. For example, you may see articles talking about how the death rates of coronavirus are falling. Without more contextualized information, you might be inclined to believe that, and goddamn it, we could all use a little good news right now. This is the easy way out. This is the call of the lullaby, and I would argue that this is the most dangerous type of emotional manipulation.

Without a balanced set of facts, you may allow yourself to slide into a false sense of security that could, in turn, put others at risk. Instead, continuing with the example above, you might contextualize the falling death rate information by adding that we still have yet to fully understand the long-term effects of surviving Covid-19, not to mention that the death rates have at least a week delay in reports after infection rates increase. Stay vigilant. Make sure that you raise an eyebrow at information that seems too good to be true and do more research to put it into a greater context.

Listen to all sides of an argument.

In much of the political discourse online and especially on social media, there is a lot of talk around listening to “both sides of an issue.” There’s an inherent fallacy in saying this because there are rarely only two sides of the issue. Additionally, pitting two sides against each other necessarily heightens anger and defensiveness in the conversation. And who decides which two sides are at the forefront anyway?

Thinking of, for instance, the Black Lives Matter movement, there are a lot more than two sides of the issue. There are people who believe we need to fully abolish the police (me, just so my bias is transparent). There are people who believe we only need to defund the police. There are people who support the movement but don’t like that riots happened. There are people who feel like we have already done enough for the cause and therefore disregard it. Depending on the demographics (and I’m talking here about ethnicity and class primarily), each person is going to have a different perspective on the urgency of a topic or situation.

This is far beyond “democrat” and “republican.” This is also about radical moderates, libertarians, anarchists, etc.. This is also about wealth disparity, power structures, the prison system, the environment, etc. The “sides” only grow increasingly complex as you continue to look. Be skeptical of any information that completely aligns with either liberal or conservative ideologies as well as anything that claims to see “both sides.” Do everything you can to avoid being put into an ideological box someone else can use to dismiss everything you say.

So, how can you take a step back from all this to see from all angles? There are several methods I have found helpful. First, you can look at multiple news sources for the same information. If something is only reported by news sources with known biases toward one side or another, I would treat that information with a lot of skepticism. However, if more than one reputable news source reports the same information, it is much safer to add that to your arsenal of knowledge.

Second, you may want to look at foreign news sources. What do other countries say about the causes and events you care about? They will have different biases, sure, but they will likely be removed from the biases immediately within your culture and may help you to see through the rhetoric.

Know that conspiracy theories are not in short supply.

One of my friends recently asked why there are so many conspiracy theories right now. My answer is that it is because there are so many unknowns. It is human nature to be afraid of the unknown, and everyone has their own process of trying to make sense of it. Not all ways of making sense of a situation are created equal.

Be wary of narratives around “sowing division,” especially when they are coupled with the idea of foreign manipulation. While I cannot confirm that the elevation of, for instance, racial tension was not planned, you have to ask yourself what the right course of action is even if it were. We cannot allow injustice to stand on the off chance that this is all a ploy. And if it is not a ploy and we step aside, we will have to admit that we allowed ourselves to be manipulated into complacency.

Accept new information that refutes your stance with grace.

Navigating the landscape of information where everything changes by the hour is exhausting, and you will make mistakes. If someone points out that your source may be biased or that your information does not exist well within the context, take their comment in good faith. Say thank you. Look up more information to educate yourself better. Don’t delete your comments or posts—they will likely serve as a learning experience for someone else. Show instead your humility and your ability to change your mind when presented with new information. This is how you build trust with the people who read your information.

Set boundaries.

Just like setting boundaries around when you engage with the news, you must create boundaries for yourself around reading sources in opposition to your beliefs. It’s even more exhausting to have your beliefs challenged over and over again than it is to simply navigate the information landscape in general. That means that, if you are in a heated debate or conversation with someone who has contradictory beliefs, take frequent breaks to remind yourself why you have the beliefs you have so you can argue on their behalf more eloquently. Even if your beliefs are flawed, this will help you stay logical about your conclusions so that the person you are talking to can at least understand them. When arguments devolve into emotional pleas, we widen the gap in understanding and drive everyone further apart.

Especially if you grew up in a culture or rhetoric that is different from the one you hold now, you run the risk of heeding the call of the lullaby. You may want to go back to information that is easy and allows you to believe that things aren’t as bad or that you don’t need to be trying so hard to make change. Recognize that that sensation is a good indication that you have been influenced by brainwashing tactics—whether intentional or unintentional—and as someone with less foundation to stand on, you need to tread especially carefully here.

Share the workload.

You don’t have to do this all alone. Develop a trusted network of people who are doing the same critical labor as you are so you feel more confident in the information they share. While this can’t be a catch-all, it will at least lift some of the burden off you.

Most of all, do everything you can be to be compassionate and yet call out problematic biases, beliefs, or calls to the lullaby where you see them. Give other people around you a foot to stand on. Break the echo chambers both in your own circles and outside of them.

The world is watching.