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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

How to Have Tough Holiday Talks about Misinformation

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Wednesday, November 25, 2020   

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Holiday conversations can be stressful, especially in a year filled with misinformation and disinformation about the election, the pandemic and racial protests. But experts say folks can use compassion at this year's Thanksgiving table to challenge tricky subjects.

Bridget Todd, podcast host and communications director with the group Ultraviolet pointed out that distortions spread on social media by playing on people's fears and mistrust of other groups.

She said families can approach relatives who may have been misled with empathy, using verified facts and avoiding escalation.

"As much as it can be hard, as much as you don't want to talk about politics," said Todd, "and I get it, I have my own wild cousins posting wild stuff in the family group chat - I think it's really important that we remember the critical role that just being a trusted source of accurate information is, in the fight to curb this disinformation."

She said she tracked social media campaigns that spread mistrust in communities of color about mail-in ballots. And Facebook said it posted warnings on more than 150 million posts between March and September, as part of its efforts to protect election integrity.

Todd spoke at an online event by PEN America on how to handle difficult holiday discussions about politics and misinformation. Another panelist, Vanderbilt Assistant Professor of Psychology Lisa Fazio, said everybody falls for disinformation at some point.

She said research shows it's simple for people to fool even themselves, especially through repetition.

"It's easy to think that, 'I'm above all this and it's just, like, my dumb cousin who falls for misinformation and I would never do something like that,'" said Fazio. "And that's just not how it works."

Carnegie Mellon University researchers analyzed more than 200 million tweets about COVID-19 between January and May. Of the top 50 influential "re-tweeters," it found 82% were bots, intentionally passing along misinformation.


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