📣 Faking It - MM#614
Fake news is not a new problem.
Good day my good friend.
As I write this introduction, Storm Ciarán is barrelling towards the UK, with heavy rainfall already slamming on the windows as I write this. Much of the country has taken a battering over the last couple of weeks on the weather front, with damage from wind and rain affecting many areas across Southern England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The consequent damage, destruction, and changes to lives a sobering look into our future.
If you like this newsletter, please share it with someone else who you think will love it. I will love you forever if you do. ☺️
James
💬 Misinformation as a path that we must take
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 6 months (and I wouldn’t blame you), misinformation is currently rife across social media. And a lot of things are being written about this and how bad it is. The transport sector is no stranger to this, with misinformation spreading about 15 minute neighbourhoods and climate lockdowns driving some frankly wild behaviour and comment on things as inconsequential as bollards.
Many companies are advising, and making plenty of money from, people on how to ‘battle’ misinformation. And to be fair, some advice is pretty reasonable. And if we collectively are to make the case for the radical changes needed, we have to accept that misinformation is at least an issue to be managed.
Throughout this, I have tried to consider the lessons to be learned from history. Because believe it or not, we (as in humans) have gone through something like this before. At the advent of the printing press and of radio. Misinformation and propaganda is a very ancient tradition, the tools and the speed are not. When the timeline of the history of ‘information disorder’ from the International Center for Journalists is 13 pages long, you know it has a long and illustrious history.
What it reminds us of is that each time there is a great leap forward in communications technology that informs and educates, there is also a great leap forward in these technologies being used for disinformation. What has been done each time is that the threat has been understood, and safeguards have been put in place to tackle it. The journalism that we have had for the last 50 years was just the safeguard we had against the disinformation of the past. One that does not work against modern technology. After all, social media is fast becoming the primary source of news, especially among the young.
Thankfully, this experience and our ability to analyse more quickly has given us the understanding of what to do to fight back. In The science of fake news, the authors recommend a number of approaches be trialled to stem the flow of disinformation in the modern era:
Empowering individuals - Particularly to fact check. Systems like Community Notes on that website that shall not be named that restate the lie and then provide a rebuttal immediately afterwards may actually be effective in helping people towards the truth. Though expanding critical thinking may be better in the long term.
Platform-based detection - This has been trialled on various platforms, and the results have been mixed. This ranges from blocking account, to flagging source quality. The thing is, the effect of doing this is unproven.
Legal intervention - This is either through legislation or lawsuit. Neither of which have been studied, and the first has real ethical questions (i.e. would you trust a government you don’t like with defining what is true?)
We are in a situation where we don’t quite yet know how to control the misinformation monster that has been unleashed. And we may not know for a while. It wasn’t until the 20th Century that journalistic standards started to be codified, over 500 years after the printing press was invented. There are things that we can do to control our own message and to make a positive case for change. We just so happen to be trying to make this case in a time when a new communication medium is taking off. Just about the hardest time to make a case for change.
What you can do: I highly recommend reading The science of fake news, as well as Stefan Rollnicks’s article on how to fight back and control your own message. When you are promoting transformational schemes, think about how you can control the narrative surrounding it and control your own actions. Also, consider the best ways to fact check and provide a rebuttal.
Finally, accept that for some, no matter what you do, you cannot convince them. So you need to spend your time convincing others, particularly when responding to these people in public forums.
🎓 From academia
The clever clogs at our universities have published the following excellent research. Where you are unable to access the research, email the author - they may give you a copy of the research paper for free.
The app or the cap? Which fare innovation affects bus ridership?
TL:DR - Apps and daily fare caps do little to increase use of public transport. Monthly fare caps, however, are entirely different.
TL:DR - Far from being faceless and boring, public servants are getting very creative in engaging with people.
TL:DR - Attitudes towards AVs depend on how people have interacted with them, as well as the influence of their social groups.
Robots are coming to town: A visual experiment on urban belonging and anxiety
TL:DR - People are more anxious when a robot is around.
✊ Awesome people doing awesome things
Shout out to the many, many, many organisations who got together quickly and campaigned effectively to halt the sham of a consultation that was the ticket office closures on the UK rail network.
In no particular order: Transport for All, Disability Rights UK, Scope, Level Playing Field, the Royal National Institute for Blind People, Guide Dogs, the MS Society, TSSA, the RMT Union, Transport Focus, London Travelwatch, and thousands and thousands of community groups, Councils, voluntary groups, and individuals who sent this stupid idea packing.
If you want to know why its a bad idea, the House of Commons Transport Committee has you covered.
📼 On the (You)Tube
Bike Buses are great. You should start one.
What you can do: With a group of willing volunteers for your community, identify where it would be good for you set up a bike bus - schools are usually a good starting point. Then check out Sustrans’ FRideDays Bike Bus Toolkit, which takes you through the process of setting one up, step-by-step.
🖼️ Graphic Design
I agree with Transit Maps. This is stunning. It also shows quite how centralised the French high speed rail network is, with the exception of some services along the Mediterranean Coast.
What I like most about this is that it is not just a map of SNCF’s TGV network. But it is the TGV, Eurostar, Thalys (now Eurostar), and Ouigo - all of the high speed operators in France.
📚 Random things
These links are meant to make you think about the things that affect our world in transport, and not just think about transport itself. I hope that you enjoy them.
Are We Having a Moral Panic Over Misinformation? (Naked Capitalism)
We can now only stay under 1.5°C target if we achieve net zero by 2034 (New Scientist)
Tech bros still cling to sexist stereotypes, forgetting female pioneers who coded their path (The Register)
Britain’s eternal decline (New Statesman)
Have a controversial idea? Good. Here’s why you should share it. (Big Think)
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