by Max Joseph Skidmore Jr.
Purchase
How the Rampant Proliferation of Disinformation has become the new Pandemic, examines the causes of the overwhelming tidal wave of fake news, misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda, and the increase in information illiteracy and mistrust in higher education and traditional, vetted news outlets that make fact-checking a priority. Differentiating between misinformation, and disinformation, the book clarifies how some erroneous information is accidentally spread without malice, while other fake news stories are deliberately spread because of someone’s self-serving agenda. Also noted is how certain politicians, such as Donald Trump, Madison Cawthorn, and Marjorie Taylor Greene spread malicious, and dangerous, disinformation in order to motivate their base, driving them into an angry frenzy, and even inciting them to commit violent acts because of their fake beliefs. These same politicians, and their sycophantic pundits, will also label anything as “fake news” that is critical of them and reflects them in a negative light–even when it is 100% accurate. Finally, How the Rampant Proliferation of Disinformation has Become the new Pandemic suggests ways to counter and fight disinformation and any sort of falsehoods rapidly spreading via social media and other forms of the mass media. This includes countering false information about a “stolen or rigged election,” Pizzagate,” and Critical Race Theory, that have blown up during the United States’ culture wars. Besides detailing prior research on propaganda and disinformation, it chronicles a new qualitative, phenomenological research study on the perceptions of Information Literacy (IL) instructors at private, four-year institutions in the state of Kansas.
Dr. Joey Skidmore has an interdisciplinary background with degrees in Writing, Communication Studies, Theatre, and Higher Educational Leadership. This is his second book. His first was the Review as Art and Communication. He is also a professional musician and filmmaker, with eight albums of his own material, as well as releases with Nikki Sudden, the Red Headed League, Les Fossoyeurs, and the Black Crack Review (BCR). His newest album, “Riot on Kansas City Strip,” is with a psychedelic/garage supergroup called the Nuclear Banana. Besides the Banana, he continues to play with Joey Skidmore Band, the Red Headed League, and BCR. He has directed numerous music videos, made two shorts, and two microbudget feature films, including the French rock and roll vampire comedy “Kiki Meets the Vampires,” and a documentary about the pioneering band Black Oak Arkansas, “Jim Dandy to the Rescue.” He lives with his wife, artist Iryna Stroganova, and his family in Kansas City. Together they host the annual Skid-O-Rama Fest, and run their business Supernova Productions and Supernova Art Studios.
Westphalia Press 