“Your honor, there is no liar so bad as the liar who says she never lies,
and that is who you have before you in Miss Mahaney today.”
An echo chamber is a closed system where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own. On the internet, this is called a filter bubble and is created by algorithms that show you content that’s similar to what you’ve already seen. In business, it’s called a silo (information goes up and down a narrow tube but not outside it).
Echo chambers are not new and can exist in any closed systems: familial, religious, educational, organizational, political… What is relatively new is the political practice of character assassination.
In the book, Echo Chamber, two experts on politics and the media found a common strategy to maintain the echo chamber was to de-legitimize any alternative views by attacking and ridiculing the motives and integrity of the people presenting them. In other words, don’t take on the issue: take on the person’s character and defame it, regardless of the facts of either / both.
When they can’t “kill the truth”, they “kill the character” of the person speaking it. The tactics include attacking, insulting, berating, belittling, misrepresenting, dishonoring, disgracing, … all the common behaviors of the bully in the sand box and abuser in adult life. It is the perfect environment for “professional haters”.
Using this lowest rung of the communication ladder creates polarization. By systematically undermining trust in others with different viewpoints, a roadblock is created to stop any alternative facts, perspectives and views from entering the mind of the “believer”. Echo chamber members often feel these tactics are justified due to the characterization of those with different viewpoints as “evil”.
The echo chamber approach has led to the misinformation trend of “fake news”. Fake new is used in two ways:
(1) to discount facts – real news
(2) to create and spread false information – fake news
Fake news usually has sensationalized headlines with outrageous and “shocking” information. With a drama-addicted public, these drama articles / radio shows / podcasts/ posts get read, absorbed and passed on.
Who could have foreseen that a large group of leaders would create, practice, adopt and broadcast a destructive communication style en masse? More specifically, that political leaders would create a communication style for political polarization based on echo chambers, character assassination and fake news?
I call them fake leaders.
REFLECT:
Do you belong to a group / follow an information source with these characteristics: * they tend to give only one perspective on an issue
* their viewpoints are mainly non-factual (rumor, emotional opinions, personal stories with one perspective)
* they ignore facts that refute emotions
* they defame people who present facts and / or different opinions
I personally experienced this dynamic when I was a gubernatorial appointee directing state-wide divisions. A small radical group tried to intimidate me to do their agenda instead of my job. When that didn’t work, they dubbed me “The Femi-Nazi” and initiated a malicious personal campaign that ranged from dozens of letters to the editor to over 200 ombudsman complaints to various lawsuits, culminating in a class action suit.
As for the complaints and lawsuits against me, none were successful, and they actually proved beneficial. The exaggerated emotional exposure created lots of media attention and interviews, giving me the chance to present facts and balanced perspectives. NPR (National Public Radio) aired a nice series on the work we were doing.
The highlight of the character assassination approach happened during a lawsuit when the opposing attorney began his opening remarks with a perfect example of defamation:
“Your honor, there is no liar so bad as the liar who says she never lies, and that is
who you have before you in Miss Mahaney today.”
While this was startling, the best was yet to come. During the break, that same attorney approached me in the hall, told me how impressed he was with me, and invited me to dinner. I am rarely speechless, but I fumbled an answer, saying we were totally incompatible in style and temperament. Being an attorney, he argued with me, assuring me we were really a lot alike. Wow.
For him, character assassination was just part of the job – “nothing personal”. He appeared to have created an echo chamber of his own about professionalism, which did not include the concepts of honesty, integrity, and common decency.
Note: I was lucky to be in the limelight before the social media explosion, so the attackers and fake news blatherers were limited to local haters, not national and international ones. I have complete compassion for those in the limelight today being subjected to the outrageous vitriol of “professional haters”.
Attaining and maintaining authentic leadership requires integrity. Skiils needed are:
* on the foundational level:
gathering balanced information from diverse sources.
* on the mid-level:
modeling active listening, inclusion, respect and empathy.
* on the high level:
being a transformational and / or visionary leader.
ALL skill levels are based on having factual information.
To analyze organizational information, practice “researcher mind” and use inquiry, critical and systematic thinking, and reflection (see the blogs on these topics).
To analyze public information, you can go to fact-checking sites like PolitiFact.com, FactCheck.org, and Snopes.com. These sources specialize in fact checking and debunking inaccurate stories and claims.
APPLY:
Choose a topic you feel strongly about.
Investigate an opposing view by
* reading / listening to different information sources
* talking with an advocate of the opposite view
Reflect on the two viewpoints and how they were arrived at.
