Perspective in the Era of Fake News

May 22, 2018

It is crucial to take the time to participate in discourse with the people around us who hold opposing viewpoints. The following recounts an experience of mine earlier this year.

The Women’s March 2018 spurred a female Facebook friend to drop me a recent Ron Dwyer post about Donna Hylton speaking at the 2017 Women’s March in D.C. His aggressive post shamed her involvement in the march by way of explaining her previous role in a murder. I felt as if my friend was using Donna Hylton’s actions and presence to define the Women’s March in total. If you google Donna Hylton, as I did, you discover that her story is not as simple as it is put by Dwyer.

The embellished political rhetoric on Dwyer’s FB page epitomizes the complex relationship between “fake news” and exaggeration and how one morphs into the other. Choosing Donna to speak is controversial because of her history and the fact that many people will still diminish the women’s movement with her story. But she is not what brings women out to march, nor is who speaks at the ceremony the reason that thousands marched in DC or why over 2 million marched nationwide. Not only does Dwyer leave out facts, but he attempts to misrepresent what marching means to women.

We march because we ALL have a friend, a sibling, a relative that has been abused by someone in a position of power, who has been oppressed, disregarded and simplified. Donna’s story is significant in this larger context not because of her part in a murder, but because of what followed her crime. She went to prison, recognized the suffering she caused, and now advocates for prison reform so more people are given the resources to have opportunities when they are out. I believe her ability to turn her life around benefits our community. However, these critical pieces of transformation are missing from Dwyer’s post.

The power of “fake news” to misinform for political purposes or isolate facts is a force that threatens us all. My friend’s willingness to disregard the layers of complexity in Donna’s story and use her to discredit the Women’s March represents how inflated facts encourage people to uphold only the “truths” that are congruent with their opinion. It results in bigotry and reluctance to engage with alternative viewpoints. This is the real crux of “fake news”: the polarity and division that it drives between people.

The distortion of Donna’s life represents how “fake news” discourages individuals from seeking information that expands their perspective. I chose to engage my friend over the story which then led to honest conversation between us instead of malice. Polarization can be conquered with tolerance and a readiness to start a discussion with someone who holds different beliefs than yourself.

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