Blog Entry #3: Claim Analysis
In this post, I'll be analyzing a claim that I saw online. I'll explain why it's important to verify information and how harmful misinformation can be.
Simply put, there's a power dynamic between viewers and influencers or celebrities that can be abused, which is why they shouldn't fear monger or share misinformation. When they do, while it is on the viewer to do their research and educate themselves, they knowingly harm people who won't take the time do to so. In a position of power like that, they should know better than to just banter or share uninformed information.
One example I can think of is Joe Rogan during COVID and all the misinformation that he shared. It literally made international news because of how much influence Rogan holds. While the severity of the effects of his claims were blown out of proportion by a Rolling Stone article (which was heavily criticized and has since been renamed), the USDA did report that there were multiple cases of people being hospitalized from taking ivermectin (the drug that Rogan recommended). During this fiasco, Rachel Maddow retweeted the Rolling Stone article, which millions of people also saw. Maddow obviously holds lots of power as well, and behavior like that could be considered "celebrity journalism," as it's not something she was reporting on T.V.; it was on social media.
I think that the situation above is particularly interesting, because Rogan even says, "'...how did I find myself in this? I'm a comedian, and a cage fighting commentator. How am I on CNN all the time?'" according to this article. Even though he's well aware of the fact that he is not a doctor or expert, he still shared medical "advice" and then complains about the backlash he received; backlash that should've been expected considering the size of his platform. As I said earlier, it is on the viewer to research the information that they absorb, but someone like Rogan also knows how large his platform is, and should do a better job at protecting the community.
Reversely, Rachel Maddow is a political commentator, but also hosts a huge platform. When she says or retweets something, people listen, so she should be equally as careful not to fear-monger and blow things out of proportion (as she did with the Rolling Stone article).
Overall, while Joe Rogan's medical advice should not be highly regarded as he's not a doctor, it's also on us to do our research and understand why we shouldn't take his medical advice as good advice. It's important that we spot and research misinformation, as people did get hurt from the misinformation that was spread.