Murfreesboro, TN - “Fake news” may grab headlines, but “fake ignorance” is quietly shaping public discourse too, says Dr. Larry Burriss of MTSU’s School of Journalism.

While fake news spreads misinformation, fake ignorance lets people dodge accountability by pretending not to know what they do. Burriss warns both tactics erode trust and blur the line between truth and manipulation—especially in politics and media.

Here is the text for Dr. Burriss' commentary: 

Does anyone really think Abraham Lincoiln was the first president of the United States? Or that the Russians landed on the moon first? Or the United States and Germany were allies during World War II? Well, apparently a lot of people do. Just look at all of the people on television news shows who apparently don’t know the answers to the most basic questions. After all, if it is on television, it must be true. And if you believe that, well, quite frankly, you rank right up there with people who tell you China is just north of the United States. Well, let’s take a quick lesson in television production. Here’s the television news program, or alleged news program, lead in: the host decries the state of American education today with emphasis on high school or even college graduates. A reporter, and I use the term “reporter” loosely, asks a question everyone should know the answer to, like, “What is the capital of France?” And the person answers with, “Quebec.” And the in-studio audience laughs, and at home someone says, “How could they be so stupid?” Well, there are several possible answers. First, you have to ask, is the basic premise of the show news or entertainment? Almost all of these kinds of segments are entertainment, or at best, self-promoting commentary. Often the interviewer has asked dozens of people the same question, and then uses only the wrong, or most entertaining answers. And if you asked enough people a simple question, someone is not going to know the answer. Sometimes the interviewer will prompt the person to give a particular answer. Or someone gives a stupid answer just to get a laugh. Or, believe it or not, the whole thing is staged, and the shows’ producers pay actors or members of the public to give outlandish answers. There’s also a very real psychological component going on here. Most people have never been interviewed for television, must less network television. So when they suddenly find themselves confronted with a television camera they freeze up, forget common knowledge, and just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. We’ve all heard the phrase, if something appears too good to be true, it probably is. Well, the opposite is also true: if something appears too bad to be wrong, it probably isn’t.   I’m Larry Burriss.