In an age where media has become a fundamental part of our day-to-day life, what we receive and discover is very important. Although the reasons for the use of misinformation or disinformation can vary it is incumbent to explore the fundamental issue of why such information is so intriguing to the general public. There will always be a tie to misinformation and the government.

Misinformation and disinformation are so alluring for two reasons: they target subjects without sufficient knowledge of a topic and/or the statement is something the subject wants to intrinsically believe.

If someone is very involved in the NBA organization, their susceptibility to misinformation about the NBA is much lower than that of the average NBA viewer. Media companies target those who lack enough knowledge for a foundation on discerning what is true or false. This truth is the first step to understanding how politics can be easily altered by spreading false information to those uninformed. Media companies and politics use what people don’t know and fill those holes with lies and deception.

On the other hand, a lot of times people find themselves with a topic they want to internally believe in. There is no doubt we live in a society where deception and lies circle all the time. A lot of times people find misinformation and do not question it because it is something they want to believe. If I read a report stating my favorite player got traded for a player far worse, my first instinct is disbelief. Unbelief, is the sustaining base for my unacceptance.  Being first hit with the element of surprise, my first reaction is to search up and fact-check. My lack of desire, drives me to look for truth. The inverse is seen when a topic is something the reader wants to accept. So much so, the reader fails to look for truth and dosent acknowledge a search must be done.  This is very clearly seen with confirmation bias, where someone looks past all the negatives but holds onto the positives to prove their claim. As humans when presented with information, our brains filter the information received through the views we stand with already. This predisposes us to view information holistically and interpret statements truthfully and logically. It is much easier to filter than to change our views every time we have to make a decision. Confirmation bias works the same way in the media. Media conforms to our perception and what we see as familiar blinds the truth. When we are met with a claim, we do not transcribe it and look at both sides, we affirm what we want to believe and use all of our reasoning to enforce that belief. That is the foundation of motivated reasoning. We look past all the no’s until we find a yes. Although this forms what we are as humans and as a species today and is part of why we have come upon the apex species. It is undeniable that using familiar bias and confirmation bias saves us a lot of economic energy and time. Which is why when scrolling and being fed through many posts and stories, our first instinct is to accept or deny in automation. This tendency can also hurt us, it can blind us from the truth and cause a basis for more misinformation and lies to build upon.

Additionally, the social identity theory by Tajfel works effectively with this claim. Tajfel’s theory claims that one develops emotional attachment to the groups one belongs to. This, in turn serves as the basis of our feeding to maintain a positive image of such a group. This bias leaves one unconscious of others since it strives to enforce the ideas to benefit the group one belongs to. The use of media is heavily induced into this idea which is why there are left-wing and right-wing media companies. People identify and place themselves in groups and place others in groups. This is what shapes our view of ourselves and others. We belong to a certain group and we strive to prove that truth because that’s what’s best for us emotionally. This happens on a much more minuscule scale but not an absent one in media consumption.

The problem is not misinformation because misinformation will always be there and will always be objectively false. The reader's ability and effort to believe something false is the issue. Most claims are far too outrageous for someone to believe whether informed or not. The problem stems from the reader themself and the way to solve it is to start being authentic and realistic. Putting oneself in those uncomfortable situations where one asks himself not can I believe this? " or " Must I believe this. Our thinking must not end with no rational reasoning but it must start there. Training our brains to think effectively and striving to find the truth. Drugs will always be there, but drugs are not the issue when untouched or strayed away from. Misinformation is the same, all the power is in the hands of the reader. Pinning the blame on misinformation or media companies will never fix the issue because the reality is that the journalists writing the articles are somehow biased as well. Before fixing our beliefs we must first fix the systematic framework of our understanding of ideas. Not until we can start to question ideas can we fully grasp the truth that lies underneath.

For these reasons, news has become more entertainment and not a discovery of what is going on. News stations exaggerate stories instead of revealing the plain truth. This creates two parallels for a solution. On one hand, if we are committed to being journalists we must be committed to truth and not entertainment or deception. But on the other hand, just like any other bad thing; it will always be around and we can not rely on it. So as readers and subjects to misinformation, we must think critically. When psychology gets to a point where we start to use innate and habitual bias’ it’s very hard to stop it and pinpoint it. A lot of authors don’t know what they’re doing they just do it out of instinct. All that is to say, we must put our guards up, and if we are prepared to share the information we gained with others to do so factually not out of opinion. Spreading false information is how we start a new cycle not break it. But, if it all starts with understanding the why. This issue won’t ever be resolved by trying to pinpoint how misinformation is being used and for what purpose if we don’t understand why we are so easily manipulated by it.