One of the more common polling tests is a “right direction/wrong direction” question. It’s been a while since Americans felt our country was headed in the right direction. Nationally and in Colorado the villains increasingly singled out by those distressed on the left and right are their fellow citizens – their neighbors. Allegedly U. S.-hating leftists are reviled by conservatives and presumably bigoted, selfish deplorables enrage liberals. Yet, when we step back and take a deep breath, who are these America-hating Americans? Or, for that matter, is our country really overrun with ignorant racists?

Surely there are such citizens – extremists best avoided for the most part. Love of country should never regard public criticism or the pursuit of a more perfect union a form of treason. In a rapidly changing world, attempting to defend the status quo is a losing proposition. Nurturing the entrepreneurial energies and imagination of human genius assures continuing evolution. There should be little surprise that both liberals and conservatives struggle to cope with this transformation. The tensions between accommodation with and rejection of change produce few winners.

Earlier this month the Gates Foundation and the Colorado Media Project conducted a Zoom discussion titled, “Reclaiming the Public Square.” The panelists and those in attendance were overwhelmingly media journalists whose lamentations focused on the competition truth is encountering from social media newsfeeds and viral internet rumors. These are my friends. I share their concerns. But, when the time came for questions and potential strategies, they veered towards blaming the shortcomings among our citizenry. Suggested solution included: “What about more public media literacy training? Or, mandatory school curricula that fosters right thinking? Perhaps more and better fact checking?” There was little speculation on what the media might do differently to meet the public where it is – few glances in the mirror.

My grandchildren will not return to a world where two daily papers are delivered to their doorstep morning and evening. That country’s gone – forever. I choose to raise this dilemma because I find many of my liberal friends fail to recognize their desire to smarten up their neighbors, improving their media discernment, isn’t all that different from “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) fantasies on the right. Technology is our common opponent, and both camps are easily manipulated by malefactors who better understand its capabilities. Congress can, and likely will, employ the anti-trust laws to break up Facebook and Twitter, yet social media, whether humongous monopolies or splintered “Baby Bells,” can never hire sufficient fact-checkers to outpace the liars and charlatans. An alternate strategy is required.

Q-Anon offers a case study. Its runaway lies are enabled by amoral platforms. The thesis that a multi-national ring of satanic political leaders operates a ring of pedophile brothels is, of course, utterly absurd. Where are the parents? Why aren’t they speaking out? If millions of children were regularly disappearing, wouldn’t parents be beating down the doors of local police stations? As these victims became adults wouldn’t a few of them have successfully escaped to tell their stories? (Unless, of course, you’re willing to take a further step and embrace the notion children are being cannibalized by hungry Democrats.) This nonsense is, in fact, undermining the important work of international child-trafficking investigations.

Let me suggest a media strategy that could puncture this misinformation. Challenge these conspiracists to post the names of parents with a missing child together with the name, photo and age of their son or daughter on a blank web bulletin board. Local newspapers could follow suit, urging Q-Anon to provide proof to their editorial offices for reported of abductions. This strategy isn’t perfect, to be sure, and should be coordinated with police agencies, but the principle is to challenge liars to “prove it” relying on the tools of social media. For better or worse, and currently it is worse, this is where our neighbors are forming their view of the world. The truth also needs to be positioned there pointing out each lie. This means abandoning the traditional presentation of “both sides” of every story and leaving it to the reader to determine which to believe in favor of blatant advocacy journalism.

Twitter has taken a step in the right direction with its “dispute” notices regarding Trump election rants. If such direct advocacy makes journalists uncomfortable, then we need different journalists. They will need to be tech savvy, brazenly confrontational and brave. Wouldn’t you like to be confident what the truth is about COVID-19 precautions? If its mortality rate were 15%, like Ebola, rather than closer to half a percent, Colorado’s gunslinging anti-maskers would be enforcing quarantines rather than flouting them. Intimidating our public health employees is premised on the theory they’ve been silently waiting for an opportunity to push us around. Come on man, how likely is that?