Citing the recently published handbook, The Debunking Handbook (2020) from George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, UMD College of Education reports:

Today’s society is overwhelmed with misinformation, and technology has only made it easier to spread. Undoing misinformation is difficult, so the best way to combat the spread is to equip people with the tools they need to distinguish the true from the not-so-true.

The Debunking Handbook 2020 aims to do just that by summarizing the current state of the science of misinformation and its debunking. There is little doubt that misinformation and “fake news” are currently undermining democracies around the world. Misinformation has particularly insidious psychological consequences because it often “sticks” in people’s memories even after it has been debunked, and even when people believe and acknowledge a correction.

The Debunking Handbook 2020 was written by a team of 22 prominent scholars for engaged citizens, policy makers, journalists, and other practitioners. Among the scholars is University of Maryland College of Education’s Dr. Doug Lombardi, associate professor in the Department of Human Development & Quantitative Methodology.

“In today’s information maelstrom, people struggle to determine scientific truthfulness. Debunking 2020 offers help, equipping readers with critical-analytical tools to fight weaponized information,” says Dr. Lombardi, a co-author on the handbook.

Read the rest of the article here.

Download the handbook here.