Running head: TRUTH DECAY
TRUTH DECAY
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TRUTH DECAY
Truth Decay
Truth decay has been prevalent in the United States caused by different reasons, including
public misinformation, which has led to increasing disagreements between facts and analytical
interpretations of the facts and data. This has caused a blur of the line between facts and opinion
to the public's information, making it hard to differentiate the truth anymore. This has led to the
accepting public opinions even when analysis of the relevant data shows otherwise. Similarly,
there has been an increasing volume of misinformation from social media and traditional media
through the influence the information has on opinion and personal experience. Another trend that
has caused truth decay is the distrust of the respected sources of factual information over the
years, which has led to people questioning the facts. Looking at the history of the United States
during the 1880s-1890s, the 1920s -1930s, and the 1960s-1970s periods indicate trends
associated with truth decay and which are prevalent even in today's society
The 1880s and 1890s saw the rise of yellow journalism in the country, which led to the
dissemination of exaggerated and sensationalized news and information, which increased the
amount of opinion in the media and blurred the line between facts and opinions at the time (Rich,
2018). This period saw the increase in newspapers' mass productions with the monthly
circulation of journals increasing from 18 million to 64 million, which significantly increased the
access to information (Musser, 2004). As a result, the newspapers and journals used misleading
or false news to attract more subscribers for economic profit (Campbell, 2001). This fake news
contributed to the public's confusion and distrust towards the government and the media in the
1890s (Musser, 2004). Hence this fake news increased the volume of opinion information in the
media, which blurred the lines between opinions and facts of the information the public accessed
TRUTH DECAY
in the media. In today's world, people have lost trust in the media and the government and
question their ability to provide them with accurate and transparent information
In the 1920s and 1930s, the media environment changed again, which saw the rise of
tabloid journalism, commonly referred to as jazz journalism at the time (Rich, 2018). This newly
established jazz journalism sold fabricated and sensationalized stories of sex and violence to
attract the public's attention to get more subscribers. Jazz journalism was different from yellow
journalism. It focused more on violence, alcohol, or sex than news, which made the media a
source of opinion, entertainment, and sensationalism that eroded the line between falsehood and
exaggeration of objective facts. The 1930s also saw the rise of the radio, which was seen as a
more accurate source of information than the tabloids (Musser, 2004). However, as radios gained
traction in the United States, they demonstrated how the individuals had the power to shape
public beliefs due to the large following radio personalities were getting. This power to shape
public opinio