OPINION: TRUST PROJECT UPDATE

VOL. 122, ISSUE NO. 26

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The Daily Emerald is published by Emerald Media Group, Inc., the independent nonprofit media company at the University of Oregon. Formerly the Oregon Daily Emerald, the news organization was founded in 1900.

ON THE COVER

(Eleanor Klock/Emerald)

EMERALD TRUST PROJECT WINTER 2021

AN INOCULATION AGAINST DISINFORMATION

BY C. FRANCIS O’LEARY • TWITTER @CFRANCISOLEARY

We as a society are working to overcome the to make ourselves less susceptible to bad COVID-19 pandemic through an organized, information and stop it when we see it. We nationwide effort. For most, their role in need to intentionally create a counter to the containing the virus is to work from home when conspiratorial milieu, a culture of engagement possible, wear a mask and generally minimize with good, truthful information. the risk that they contract and spread the This term, as part of the Emerald Trust coronavirus. For others, their job is to develop Project, the Daily Emerald is committing to and distribute a vaccine that will protect people including the public in more of our content against the virus. creation. We call The goal is to have a upon the students, high proportion of parents, faculty the population who and staff of the are immune, which University of will make personto-person spread unlikely. “Together we Oregon to not only subscribe to our newsletter and There is a second pandemic permeating this can create an read our reporting, but reach out to reporters with tips, country and the world: information disorder. environment submit letters to the editor and pitch short-run podcasts Information disorder is a term where bad about little-known aspects of the coined by Claire Wardle, an expert on the online spread information can’t community. Engage with reporters on social media and of bad information. It means fabricated information or that take root, but when you see us onthe-job. As always, I encourage people to which is spread with the intent to cause harm. According to we have to start email me at trust@ dailyemerald.com if you have other research at Stanford University, calling this information here and now.” ideas. At the Emerald, we don’t only want viral is not an to provide the exaggeration; community with researchers used information they modelling software can use in daily life, designed to study nor do we only want Ebola to map the spread of bad information to develop first-rate reporters who will continue during the 2016 election. with the Emerald’s ethos of actively building

The consequences of information disorder trust in the communities they report on. We are all too plain to see. Last Wednesday, want our readers to go forward as engaged, information disorder caused by lies about critical media consumers. widespread election fraud led thousands of I’m not going to pretend like the Emerald President Donald Trump’s supporters to leave and UO are going to reverse the tide and end one of his speeches and invade the Capitol. information disorder once and for all, but it’s There, they looted congressional offices, equally wrong to act like we’re powerless. attacked members of the press and killed a Together we can create an environment where police officer. bad information can’t take root, but we have to

It’s time to develop herd immunity. We need start here and now.

Around OR

REGIONAL AND STATE NEWS

OREGON STATE REP. LET RIGHT-WING PROTESTERS BREACH STATE CAPITOL:

Security footage obtained by The Oregonian showed Rep. Mike Nearman, a Republican from Independence, opening doors to the Oregon state capitol building in Salem, allowing demonstrators to enter illegally. Many were unmasked and some carried rifles, The Oregonian reported. The incident occurred on Dec. 21 when Oregon lawmakers gathered for a special session to extend the eviction moratorium, allocate more money to the COVID-19 response and create a relief fund for landlords. – JACK FORREST

CONFERENCE PLAY: Oregon men’s and women’s basketball programs hit the road this week as they continue conference play. Head coach Dana Altman’s squad bounced back after a loss to the Colorado Buffs’ with a 79-73 win over Utah. The No. 17 Ducks sit at 10-2. Meanwhile, the women’s team took on No. 9 UCLA and No. 1 Stanford, losing 73-71 and 70-63 respectively. – SHANE HOFFMANN

(Maddie Knight/Emerald)

LOVE POEMS WRITING

WORKSHOP: On Jan. 29, the Caesura Poetry Workshop, an organization based in Milwaukie, Oregon, will hold “The Heartfelt & Heartbroken: Writing Evocative Love Poems,” a workshop that will explore writing poems about love. Participants will analyze the work of contemporary poets and complete hands-on writing activities to share their emotions and affection through poetry without getting stuck in sentimentality. The workshop will run from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. – SARAH-MAE McCULLOUGH