Let’s reflect more and react less

The Aug. 1 Daily Herald featured a column by Jim Slusher reflecting on how vulnerable we all are to the growing misrepresentation and distortion of ideas due to the power of AI and social media--to how “the nature of the medium distorts the message.” This leads to his conclusion that “traditional news media” at least “insist on standards that are first and foremost based on trust.”

I was glad to read this and of this commitment at the DH. While I’m unclear on what this kind of “trust” entails, I appreciated the insight and pledge.

Then I read the letter published below Slusher’s--from a reader who echoed former President Trump’s approach: name-calling, blaming and sweeping generalizations (with no concern about evidence). Kamala Harris is depicted as “far left” and then equated with the hammer and sickle. He then warns readers about “leftist propaganda.”

Is the author unaware that the letter itself verges on propaganda? None of the ideas are his. They are all borrowed from news bytes. There is very little honest analysis or exemplification in the letter--just a string of vague claims: everything was great under Trump and is terrible now. As is so often the case, the writing is primarily reactive and rarely reflective.

After reading that letter, I wondered if this wasn’t partly what Slusher was getting at in his piece. If we are to find and build trust in our communities this election year, we need to focus more on reflecting and less on reacting––in the hopes of learning how to get beyond our us-them, either-or thinking.

Tom Montgomery Fate

Glen Ellyn