1 00:00:06,761 --> 00:00:10,560 There's a quote usually attributed to the writer Mark Twain that goes, 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,211 "A lie can travel halfway around the world 3 00:00:14,211 --> 00:00:17,269 while the truth is putting on its shoes." 4 00:00:17,269 --> 00:00:18,936 Funny thing about that. 5 00:00:18,936 --> 00:00:22,985 There's reason to doubt that Mark Twain ever said this at all, 6 00:00:22,985 --> 00:00:26,000 thus, ironically, proving the point. 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,753 And today, the quote, whoever said it, is truer than ever before. 8 00:00:31,753 --> 00:00:35,180 In previous decades, most media with global reach 9 00:00:35,180 --> 00:00:38,496 consisted of several major newspapers and networks 10 00:00:38,496 --> 00:00:43,062 which had the resources to gather information directly. 11 00:00:43,062 --> 00:00:45,722 Outlets like Reuters and the Associated Press 12 00:00:45,722 --> 00:00:51,921 that aggregate or rereport stories were relatively rare compared to today. 13 00:00:51,921 --> 00:00:54,846 The speed with which information spreads now 14 00:00:54,846 --> 00:01:00,623 has created the ideal conditions for a phenomenon known as circular reporting. 15 00:01:00,623 --> 00:01:04,225 This is when publication A publishes misinformation, 16 00:01:04,225 --> 00:01:06,916 publication B reprints it, 17 00:01:06,916 --> 00:01:12,807 and publication A then cites B as the source for the information. 18 00:01:12,807 --> 00:01:15,433 It's also considered a form of circular reporting 19 00:01:15,433 --> 00:01:17,871 when multiple publications 20 00:01:17,871 --> 00:01:21,122 report on the same initial piece of false information, 21 00:01:21,122 --> 00:01:27,414 which then appears to another author as having been verified by multiple sources. 22 00:01:27,414 --> 00:01:32,678 For instance, the 1998 publication of a single pseudoscientific paper 23 00:01:32,678 --> 00:01:36,667 arguing that routine vaccination of children causes autism 24 00:01:36,667 --> 00:01:40,584 inspired an entire antivaccination movement, 25 00:01:40,584 --> 00:01:44,697 despite the fact that the original paper has repeatedly been discredited 26 00:01:44,697 --> 00:01:47,173 by the scientific community. 27 00:01:47,173 --> 00:01:52,157 Deliberately unvaccinated children are now contracting contagious diseases 28 00:01:52,157 --> 00:01:56,007 that had been virtually eradicated in the United States, 29 00:01:56,007 --> 00:01:58,803 with some infections proving fatal. 30 00:01:58,803 --> 00:02:00,890 In a slightly less dire example, 31 00:02:00,890 --> 00:02:04,676 satirical articles that are formatted to resemble real ones 32 00:02:04,676 --> 00:02:09,236 can also be picked up by outlets not in on the joke. 33 00:02:09,236 --> 00:02:14,362 For example, a joke article in the reputable British Medical Journal entitled 34 00:02:14,362 --> 00:02:19,513 "Energy Expenditure in Adolescents Playing New Generation Computer Games," 35 00:02:19,513 --> 00:02:25,548 has been referenced in serious science publications over 400 times. 36 00:02:25,548 --> 00:02:27,999 User-generated content, such as wikis, 37 00:02:27,999 --> 00:02:31,853 are also a common contributer to circular reporting. 38 00:02:31,853 --> 00:02:35,869 As more writers come to rely on such pages for quick information, 39 00:02:35,869 --> 00:02:41,137 an unverified fact in a wiki page can make its way into a published article 40 00:02:41,137 --> 00:02:46,213 that may later be added as a citation for the very same wiki information, 41 00:02:46,213 --> 00:02:49,038 making it much harder to debunk. 42 00:02:49,038 --> 00:02:51,517 Recent advances in communication technology 43 00:02:51,517 --> 00:02:53,436 have had immeasurable benefits 44 00:02:53,436 --> 00:02:57,518 in breaking down the barriers between information and people. 45 00:02:57,518 --> 00:02:59,315 But our desire for quick answers 46 00:02:59,315 --> 00:03:03,335 may overpower the desire to be certain of their validity. 47 00:03:03,335 --> 00:03:07,574 And when this bias can be multiplied by billions of people around the world, 48 00:03:07,574 --> 00:03:11,877 nearly instantaneously, more caution is in order. 49 00:03:11,877 --> 00:03:13,832 Avoiding sensationalist media, 50 00:03:13,832 --> 00:03:16,980 searching for criticisms of suspicious information, 51 00:03:16,980 --> 00:03:22,088 and tracing the original source of a report can help slow down a lie, 52 00:03:22,088 --> 00:03:25,360 giving the truth more time to put on its shoes.