Listen to this blog with one of our AI generated voices.

Consuming content is part of everyday life. In fact, it’s become such a norm that the average American spends up to six hours per day streaming content while younger generations, like Gen Z, scroll for up to seven hours.  

Research shows nearly half (42%) of Americans admit to feeling like they consume ‘too much’ media and a third (36%) revealed their mood is often negatively impacted by something they’ve seen on social media. 

It’s no surprise that there’s a variety of emotions built around content consumption, including guilt, anger, happiness, and contempt. This is because we can watch, listen, and learn about anything and everything with the touch of a button. However, if we lose our inquisitive nature and stop source and fact-checking, we risk falling for disinformation.  

What is Disinformation Awareness Month 

April marks Disinformation Awareness Month, an initiative spearheaded by the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) to equip communications professionals with strategies to combat disinformation. It also serves as a reminder for PR professionals to continue to uphold integrity in the role they play between brands, the public, and the media – this is despite the common misconception of the industry ‘spinning’ stories and narratives.  

Notably, 60% of Americans view disinformation as a major issue, and are increasingly holding politicians, social media, and companies responsible for the spread of it. More alarmingly, 61% consider public relations professionals as ‘somewhat’ culpable for spreading disinformation. This awareness amplifies the responsibility of the industry to uphold truth amidst the growing prevalence of the public’s distrust. 

Public Relations role in combatting disinformation  

With Americans labelling sources such as specific social media platforms, political parties, and companies viable for the spread of false information, it’s important more than ever for the PR industry to play a pivotal role in combatting distorted truths.  

Here are three ways communications professionals can combat disinformation: 

Improve media literacy 

Media literacy is no longer just desirable; it is essential to everyday practices. PR professionals are experts in navigating the media landscape by understanding, analyzing, and evaluating messages told to the public – and they use this knowledge to understand the public’s sentiments to build trust. Detecting disinformation is the same.  

PR professionals will need to become experts in understanding the tell-tale signs of AI-generated image creation and manipulation, psychological tactics used to invoke extreme emotional reactions, and ethical AI integration frameworks.  

Leverage generative AI  

There’s plenty of opportunities and challenges with the emergence of widespread AI adoption in the PR industry. It increases productivity and efficiency in daily tasks but also requires fostering a new skillset when leveraging it – proficiency in tools to create AI-generated content, subedit, and optimize outreach.  

Generative AI has also transformed the disinformation landscape through the facilitation of creating deepfakes and manipulated content. The ease of access to these tools lowers the barrier for black hat agents. To caveat this and build upon establishing and maintaining trust with the public – a core fundamental of the communications industry – PR professionals should embrace preventative measures, like developing risk and resilience strategies. 

When integrated ethically, generative AI can be a great ally to combat disinformation. For example, PR professionals can utilize natural language processing to identify suspicious or manipulated content patterns. From there, AI-powered tools can authenticate the image, and the PR professional can learn the public’s sentiment towards the photo through understanding, analyzing, and evaluating the reactions.   

The blending of AI assistance and human expertise can create resilient defenses against disinformation and contribute to a healthier information ecosystem.  

Take the Disinformation Awareness Month Pledge 

Confronting disinformation and developing the tools to combat it can lead to navigating trust. That is why the Institute of Public Relations continues to be at the forefront of the issue and has progressed from conducting signature studies to launching the IPR Behavioral Insights Research Centre. 

By enhancing our capacity to fight disinformation, we protect not only reputations but also contribute to less polarizing news cycles for the betterment of society.  

Précis AI has proudly taken the pledge to combat disinformation and promote media literacy. We encourage all PR practitioners to visit the IPR website, participate in the Disinformation Awareness Month activities, and sign the commitment to help discern fact from fiction within content consumption.