#154 Fake News & Disinformation: Why It's Here & What Can We Do About It? | Eric Schurenberg, Former CEO of Inc. & Fast Company

I’m guessing that in grade school at some point you played the game of Telephone. You know, that game where you and your classmates or friends get in a circle, and one person whispers a statement to the next person and continues like this until it gets to the original person. And we all remember the results: the statement is generally so distorted that everyone in the circle starts laughing.

Which is funny as a controlled game when there are no consequences. But it’s terrifying in the real world when the information is necessary and may have life or death consequences. The bottom line is this: we need shared facts to thrive and sometimes we need those shared facts just to survive. Can you imagine if a large segment of the population was told by seemingly credible sources that red traffic lights meant GO and green lights meant STOP? It would be catastrophic… there would likely be thousands of unnecessary deaths. And, today, disinformation can do such things and many of us are discouraged by the fact that it’s on the rise. 

Why does it exist and why do people perpetuate it? And, more important, what can be done about it?

Fortunately, I know just the guy to ask! My guest, Eric Schurenberg (https://ericschurenberg.com/), is Editor in Chief of Amplify Publishing Group and former CEO and Editor in Chief of two major publications, Inc. and Fast Company. He has taken great interest in fake news and disinformation. We talk about these troubling issues and, as you’ll hear, Eric is highly personable and analytical making it is easy to follow his thinking. His experience at the highest levels of journalism qualifies him as the person to address these issues and I hope you’ll find his words edifying and empowering.So, listen in as Eric talks about fake news, why it’s here and what can be done about it.