Misinfo creates conscious consumers and solves the net benefit.

Information is coming at us like a torrent. Relentless. Unstoppable. Without Context. What’s changed? Printing presses went from this to THIS. $99 at Best Buy, or free with a coupon. Television went from big trucks and expensive satellites to the transmitter we all have in our pockets And print, books and magazines, shifted to this - an ever-changing cloud of information. 

Today -The tools are democratized, more consumers are makers. Information is abundant. These are all good things. Well, sort of. We lack the tools to find context. Information is now relentless. Content we disagree with is labeled “fake” - even if it’s factually correct. We can place blame, on Reddit, Facebook, Google and Twitter. But that misses the point. Today - we use the handy and forbidding phrase: “Fake News” as a moniker to label unreliable information.

But what if Fake News has resulted in us waking up: What I’m here to propose is that we are in a new era. The era of Awake News. We’ve woken, to become a new generation of Conscious News Consumers.

Fake News requires us to become active participants - more engaged. More thoughtful. Fake News is a wakeup call for 3 communities.For publishers, for platforms, and for the public.

For Publishers - Awake News invites creators to state their publication’s point of view and editorial standards. If they require to sources to confirm a fact, let readers know that. If they make a mistake, how do they publish corrections? Under what circumstances do they allow ‘blind’ quotes. Sharing clear policies for how facts are checked, shared, and attributed will build trust with readers. 

For Platforms - like Facebook And Google - Awake News rewards platforms that provide clarity, sources, and content metadata that labels news, opinion and satire. Replacing invisible algorithmic robots with discovery tools and user-controllable filters will give ‘awake’ news consumers control and understanding of what they let inside their personal filter bubble.

For the Public - Awake News asks readers to question the content they read and share - and to be responsible news creators and curators. Let’s face it, we all have shared a salacious headline with a gleeful click - without taking a moment to check with Snopes to see if it’s true. Spreading bad information is no different than not washing your hands. A virus is a virus. And awake consumers can stop Fake News by exercising restraint and thoughtful social sharing.