The U.S. stands alone on a summit while the rest of the world looks on. To say the country is in uncharted territory would be an understatement. It is up to journalists to lead the way.
President Joe Biden has chosen not to run for a second term. The Israel-Hamas War has ripped the Democratic party in two. The Republicans struggle to balance former President Donald Trump’s right-wing grasp with more moderate conservatism. A third-party candidate gained traction, though he has since dropped out. The upcoming election is also the first in the U.S. with prevalent and accessible artificial intelligence, or AI, which only exacerbates the flood of misinformation and disinformation that already plagues our election cycle.
Journalists must always be hyper-aware of their role in the preservation of democracy, especially during election cycles. However, any good journalist should feel heightened pressure during the upcoming election cycle due to the current context that has made America so fragile.
Misinformation and disinformation are particularly dangerous regarding elections for two reasons, the first being that misinformation could contribute to an inaccurate public image of a candidate. Misinformation and disinformation have affected both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaigns. Following the assassination attempt on Trump, rumors went around that the shooting had been staged to boost his campaign and public image.
A video has gone around of Harris in which she appears to say, “Today is today, and yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow, so live today so the future today will be as the past today, as it is tomorrow.” The video was edited in an attempted jab at her intelligence.
Simultaneously, both candidates themselves have spread false or misleading information. Harris said Trump was to blame for losing “tens of thousands” of manufacturing jobs when the U.S. actually added over 400,000 manufacturing jobs under Trump, but COVID-19 ultimately reversed these economic effects.
Trump said Harris “happened to turn Black and she wants to be known as Black” and had only previously embraced her Indian heritage. However, Harris’ father is Black, she attended Howard University, a historically Black college, and belongs to Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest Black sorority in the U.S.
Candidates lying about each other to cast one another in a negative light is nothing new, but these lies take on new meaning given the political context in which the U.S. government currently exists. The stakes are simply higher right now. For that reason, it’s pertinent journalists embrace the role of government watchdog more ferociously than ever before, and they must do it so loudly that it drowns out even the loudest voices, specifically the ones coming from behind the podium.
The 2016 election stands in the shadow of the wealth of disinformation that spread revving up to and after election day. Eight years later, a similar theme continues. What makes the approaching election different, however, is the role that AI is already playing in bringing disinformation to life. Trump recently posted an AI image of Taylor Swift where she seemingly is endorsing him.
Although the prominence of AI’s role in the election is still unclear, people can look to the October 2023 presidential election in Slovakia. Roughly 48 hours before election day, a candidate was four points ahead. Then, a fake recording, created using AI, came out in which the candidate appeared to claim he was going to rig the election. Although the recording was fake, it still cost him the presidency.
As journalists navigate AI themselves, it is important that they keep their biases in check and do not grow apathetic or pessimistic about their cause of informing the people. As the U.S. holds its breath and stares down the steep edge of this precipice, it is up to journalists to build a bridge to the other side.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Alyssa Cruz, Managing Editor Madalyn Blair and Equity Director McKenna Christy. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
