Donald Trump repeatedly lies. However, negative press regarding his lying has had little impact on his support. Vox has put together a very interesting assessment of why Trump lies and its impact. The Vox piece can be viewed at the following:
The Vox piece is heavily based on a RAND Corporation article by Christopher Paul and Miriam Matthews entitled “The Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” Propaganda Model, Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It” RAND. The authors’ core argument is that the Russians are using a propaganda model that floods the discussion with high volumes of extreme falsehoods. The boldness of the lies and the repeated messaging is designed to undermine the truth and confuse the audience. The authors,
“…characterize the contemporary Russian model for propaganda as “the firehose of falsehood” because of two of its distinctive features: high numbers of channels and messages and a shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions. In the words of one observer, “[N]ew Russian propaganda entertains, confuses and overwhelms the audience.”
The RAND article is about the Russian propaganda model, but Vox demonstrates the commonalities it has with Donald Trump’s communication approach. The RAND article concludes that fact checking the falsehoods is not an effective counter strategy.
“We are not optimistic about the effectiveness of traditional counter-propaganda efforts. Certainly, some effort must be made to point out falsehoods and inconsistencies, but the same psychological evidence that shows how falsehood and inconsistency gain traction also tells us that retractions and refutations are seldom effective.”
These conclusions fit the reactions Trump supporters have to the press’ attempt to fact check him.
The RAND authors believe this new Russian propaganda model is difficult to combat. They forward several ideas on how to counter the propaganda. First, they suggest trying to get ahead of it by being the first to comment on an issue. Second, they argue for pointing out the ways in which propagandists attempt to manipulate audiences, rather than fighting the specific manipulations. Third, they suggest focusing on whatever the firehose is aimed at rather than the firehose of falsehood, itself, and try to push that audience in more productive directions.